The Never-Ending Why: Chapter 24: Drop The Game (Part 4)
Tony felt like he wore out his welcome over at Stephen's apartment. He went to the kitchen to get something to drink, and he saw another picture of the siblings again.
Victor was super young in the photo. Stephen had him on his back, and Donna was hugging her older brother tightly. They looked very close, and their smiles made Tony stir around in his skin.
He needed to leave, and think.
Tony said goodbye to Victor, and he retreated to the apartment that he shared with Steve. He hated it when it was empty.
He went to his workroom. Most of it was cleared out, because the space was mainly filled up with Tony's tech.
His technology was entirely microscopic. It built upon itself, and expanded outward when he wanted it to. Tony barely had any physical objects in his work space.
He walked into the center of the room, and his creative world ballooned out. It quickly formed around him, and Tony started moving his fingers.
The music he had been working on filled the room as soon as he started moving. His progress was saved, just like the video game that Victor showed him. Tony never played games like that.
He just built shit, and in that moment he was building another song. Tony was working on his second recording, and it amused him to think of it as an album.
Steve always encouraged what he was doing. Because that blonde was supportive, Tony started doing it more often than before. At first he felt like he was wasting time. His father worked every single friggen minute of the day, and Tony felt like he was supposed to live up to that in some sense.
Baby Tony didn't operate that way. He didn't want to, and it didn't feel right. He had way too much on his mind, so he got to things when he could.
Tony re-played the notes that he recorded several times, and he chewed on what happened between Clea and Donna.
It was such a heated exchange, and it felt like Donna became a different person for a moment. Tony tried not to think about the marriage thing, and he just focused on what was ahead.
A showdown throw down between Agamotto and Stephen's siblings seemed scary, but Tony assured himself that he and Steve would tip the scale in their favor.
Tony also recognized that everyone wanted a piece of Stephen as soon as he friggen returned. He thought that it was extremely selfish to sorta wedge himself in the mix.
Tony figured that it was best and easier to just retract himself from the equation entirely. That thought made him stop playing out a tune, and he blankly stared at one of his screens.
If he just removed himself, he wondered what everyone would do. Tony played out several scenarios in his head. His parents would just do what they always did, and Steve would eventually move on. Bucky would even help him accomplish that.
Stephen would just focus on his family, or his pretty Tinker Bell wife. Tony didn't feel like he was really needed in the equation at all.
He thought about that for a bit, and then he went back to constructing his silly little tune.
A part of his screen started blinking. Tony saw it fire up toward the left side of his hand. He was receiving a video call, but the numbers on it were jumbled. The information on the call was all scrambled up.
That had never happened before, so Tony hesitated. He eventually answered the call and the screen expanded in front of him. Baby Tony saw his older self, and he swallowed down a few of his thoughts.
"Uhh, whatcha doin?"
"I'm.."
What was he doing? Baby Tony freaked for a sec. He looked down at his hands, and then he slowly brought up his shoulders.
"I'm making a song."
"Oh groovy. It felt like you were brooding."
The older Tony kept tabs on his baby self. They all kept tabs on the younglings, and they thought about them all the time.
Big Tony intentionally kept quiet. He planned to hear what was really going on, but he knew that it would take some time for the little egg to crack open.
Baby Tony held a small smile. He kept looking at his technology, then he brought his focus up to his older self.
"I'm doing a little bit of both."
He was glad that his older self called him. Baby Tony held his smile, and he noticed that his older self had two scars on his face. He looked all... scruffed up.
"What happened?"
Baby Tony pointed at his face. His older self touched one of the scars that stretched from his eye to his ear. He had forgotten about it at that point, so he gave a soft laugh.
"I've become a bit of a multiverse fugitive. Word got out that I am in control of the Infinity Stones, so I am always under some sort of threat."
Big Tony was always on the run. Death was constantly at his door, but he had to take the time to talk to his baby self. He looked so young and cute. The older Tony was happy to see him.
"The older Steve is a complete basket case about it, but ehh, what can ya do?"
The older brunette brought his hands up into the screen. He gave a playful shrug, and the younger Tony's smile got warmer. He liked the idea of being a fugitive, and he saw a few scars on his arm.
When you go, you go. Both versions of Tony understood that, but one of them was still holding back. He wasn't living his life as if it could end in a second, and that was ok.
The older Tony wasn't there to lecture him, or remind him about some upcoming fate. He just popped in to see how he was, then go from there.
"Wanna hear what I've made so far?"
Baby Tony only wanted to focus on that. He didn't want to talk about what was on his mind. Luckily, his musical endeavor was becoming something that spelled it out for all to hear.
His older self was happy to hear what his younger self cooked up, and he had all the time in the world for him.
Chapter: END
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