Chapter 7: My Hero
If Rhodey had not known any better, he would have believed anyone who told him that Tony and Pepper were born physically attached to each other, and that they had no issue being bound at the hip from birth. As in: they had been born conjoined, were unable to separate themselves by any medical procedure, and did not care to find a solution to the limitations their physical proximity caused.
Yes, this all made sense to Rhodey at the moment, as ridiculous as it sounded to the common person. Yet, he also knew that this was all just a phase in their relationship; an amusing phase to watch, actually.
Throughout the entire week, Pepper had embraced Tony whenever she was nearby. Whether it was on their way to school, at school, or after school, as soon as the redhead had had a chance to hold Tony's arm or surround his waist, she had done so. Tony Stark, so far, did not seem to mind.
"Pepper, people are starting to stare," Rhodey said between gritted teeth when the girl barely allowed Tony to walk down the hall and into class due to her tight grasp on him. Rhodey did not care if Tony and Pepper made fools of themselves with their antics, but he did care if other students began poking fun at him for being part of the scene the two lovebirds were making.
"I don't care," she responded.
"Gah! Loosen up the grip, woman," Rhodey added when he almost tripped on Pepper's zig-zagging feet.
"No," Pepper sharply replied, nose stuck up in the air.
"Pepper, it was just a bunny. Let. It. Go," Rhodey insisted.
"No!" she shook her head and tightened her hold onto Tony's waist, forcing the genius to hold back a ticklish laugh. "He wasn't just A bunny: he was MY bunny. And Tony got him back!"
"And for that you're gonna glue yourself to him for eternity?"
"Maybe," she replied as she got even more comfortable under Tony's one-arm hug.
"Dude, seriously," Rhodey now directed his attention towards his other friend. "How are you able to move around like this? I'm not eating lunch with you two up on the roof today. I'm not putting up with weird questions from people about your behavior these past few days, again."
"Your loss," Tony said, the smile on his face showing he was not the least bit concerned by school rumors about Pepper's clinginess to him. "We're having pizza."
"Intravenously?" Rhodey spat. "'Cause I don't see any other way one can eat without using their hands."
"Ha-ha," Pepper said in a mocking tone. "You just wish you were this heroic, James."
"Pepper, I AM a hero, remember? I'm War Machine."
"Yes, I know. But you're just A hero. Tony is MY hero."
"Oh, boy," Rhodey groaned and walked away.
"Where's your twin?" Rhodey asked the inventor as soon as he walked inside the Makluan Temple. Due to daily required practice for Daniels' play, the heroes had been taking turns watching over the city. It had taken a lot of effort on their part to convince Daniels to let one of them be excused from rehearsal each day, and today had been Rhodey's turn to head to the temple straight from school.
"At her place," Tony replied, "Checking up on Antonio."
"Taking turns watching over your kid now? School, Iron Man, Stark Solutions, and now being a father. You have a busy life, T."
Tony narrowed his eyes at Rhodey, but Rhodey did not even flinch. In fact, he laughed aloud.
"I still can't believe you went searching for him, though," Rhodey continued. "Why didn't you just get her another pet bunny?"
"Wouldn't be the same," Tony shrugged, his eyes now scanning activity in the city to see if Iron Man was needed. "She'd already grown attached to Antonio. Plus, getting back most of her stuff and finding the guys who broke into her house while I was at it, made me look good," Tony added with a proud sideways smirk.
"You're such an attention addict, Tony," Rhodey rolled his eyes.
"I only get what I deserve," Tony said in a smug tone.
"Psh! You just went through the trouble of getting back the old bunny because you knew she'd know if you just bought her a new one and claimed it was the same one."
"Uhm…"
Rhodey raised a single eyebrow at his friend. Figures Tony Stark had ulterior motives for his heroics. For now, however, Rhodey felt generous enough to cut him some slack. To be fair, Tony probably only thought about getting a replacement bunny as a last resort. Tony was not good with emotional stuff, but even he knew better.
"Is Pepper coming by today?"
"Yeah. As soon as she feeds, bathes, and puts Antonio to sleep."
"For real?" Rhodey scoffed. "She's taking this pet business very seriously, isn't she?"
Tony shrugged. "I think it's cute."
"Of course you do," Rhodey began in a teasing tone. "You loooove her."
Tony did not respond. There was nothing to deny.
A/N: I just got back from walking at the park, and I saw TWO Antonios while there! Or, at least what I envision Antonio to look like. What does Antonio look like to you? Let me know by voting in the poll I added to my profile :)
