Lessons In Love: Chapter Seventy-Nine: Tighten Up (Part 4)
Tony woke up when the sun filled his bedroom. He felt pretty well rested, and he had his arms wrapped around one of his blankets. Steve wasn't in bed beside him.
The blonde slept with Tony, but he left long before the sun was up. Steve navigated Tony's bedroom on his own. He felt comfortable there. Steve made himself at home, and he even used the shower.
Tony noticed that he left when he opened his eyes. He didn't want him to go, but they discussed that he intended to head back to New York.
Steve wanted to continue "exercising" in the space that was made for him over at Stark Industries. The would-be-soldier mentioned that he could return in the evening, if Tony wanted.
He wanted Steve to return. Tony had a shit ton of stuff to process, and having Steve around him made it easier. He thought it over and told himself that he wasn't able to really "let him go."
Tony also told himself that he was a liar. He slept with Steve, and the guilt of it was weighing in. Tony called himself a horrible person, but Steve told him not to talk about himself like that.
He felt horrible anyway. Steve was gone, and Tony was lost in some very negative thoughts about his behavior. He kept recalling what he did between Stephen and Steve. Tony tried to sigh away all of his stress.
Then, he absently stared at the pillow that belonged to the beautiful blonde that slept beside him. Tony stared at it for a long time.
Ugh.
Tony rolled over and he started running his hands through his hair. His hair was gross and his body was hot. He sat up and sighed again. He needed to talk to someone.
The brunette kept rubbing the skin on his face and neck, and nervously moved about on his bed. He felt... different.
His body felt a number of things, and he knew that it had to do with the multiple encounters that he had. It felt like he had two partners, but one of them was being lied to and kept in the dark.
He stopped sulking and decided who he should talk to. Tony knew that his parents were in New York. His father worked in Manhattan, but they had another family home in the downtown section of that area. It was called "Tribeca" and it was very close to where Stephen lived.
Tony was unaware of that, but he called his mommy. He asked her if he could head over. Tony barely ever spent time with her, and he was determined to do that.
He decided to keep his insane behavior on the back-burner for a while, and stay with his mother for as long as he could.
Tony showered and changed his clothes, then he headed out to the Tribeca home. His mother greeted him, and told Tony that she wanted to take him shopping. It was pretty simple stuff, but Tony needed it more than anything.
Plus he lived for the opportunity to buy clothes. Tony was very flashy, and he liked to dress nice and look unique. He started spending the day with his mother, and all of his romantic troubles left his mind.
Stephen Strange wasn't in Tribeca, but he was very close to it, and he was shopping for furniture. Victor was looking at a desk. He didn't know what to chose, but he looked very happy.
Stephen was glad to see that. He patiently waited for his brother to pick out everything that he wanted. He noticed the energy from before. It felt closer, and it was no longer coming from the west.
Stephen felt it in two different directions. He studied the energy that was somewhere in front of him, then he studied the other that was toward his left.
He felt it before, and he remembered that he first felt it at the Kamar taj. Stephen's gut was telling him that it was Hoggoth and Oshtur. Which meant that it was also Tony and Steve.
That idea became clearer to him, because the energy was much closer. He realized that Tony and Steve were both in New York.
"What do you think of this one? It's kinda kooky."
Victor was looking at a table lamp that was shaped like a tall bird. The lamp shade covered most of the body, but the bird was looking over the shade with its long neck.
Stephen stopped thinking about the locations of Tony and Steve, and he carefully looked at the lamp that Victor chose. He gently laughed, because it reminded him of Dr. Seuss. The older brother studied it for a while longer, then he softly smiled.
"I love it."
Stephen actually wanted to buy a few of them. He thought that the kooky bird was perfect for the living room as well. Victor's face beamed with joy and he went back to looking at all the stuff.
Stephen went back to his thoughts about the Vishanti. He started brooding over it, because he didn't think that they were that much a trio.
They were not a team at all, and it would take a team to put down his older self. Stephen knew that they were going to get their asses kicked. He was dreading the encounter and he didn't want to think about it.
Stephen also didn't give the energy thing between Tony and Steve as much thought as he should. Something within him changed his focus. His emotions became centered on something else.
Victor brought over a poster that he wanted. They weren't allowed to hang anything on the walls back in Nebraska, so Victor wanted to completely cover his with stuff that he liked.
Chapter: END
Thanks for reading.
