Lessons In Love: Chapter Ninety-Two: Young & Sad (Part 2)
"Tony, I found something for you."
The older Steve emerged from Thor's gigantic Asgardian kingdom. He walked up to his little red corvette, and he was holding something in his hand. Tony looked down at it.
He blinked a few times, and a playful grin began to show itself. His mood was pretty low until he saw what Steve brought out of hiding.
He found a shirt for him. It was Asgardian, and Steve made sure that is was very weird looking. It was an inside joke between them. He held it out for Tony to see. They stepped around for a bit, then they eventually stood very close to one another.
Steve brought another smile out of Tony, and he made sure the brunette looked at the shirt.
"I'm not wearing that."
"You should. It has spiffy sleeves."
Spiffy? Tony thought about that word for a moment. He felt teased, and he knew that the shirt was going to make him look stupid. No way. The brunette was glad that Steve was in a better mood.
He thought that the blonde was angry with him. Tony was actually expecting a lecture. He completely ignored the stupid shirt, and he just studied the looks that were coming from his main man.
Steve kept looking at Tony's scar. He didn't like seeing it, because he never forgave himself for the way he got it. Tony could tell where Steve's eyes went, and the blonde started looking sad.
"I wanna wear this one."
Tony slowly touched the crisp and clean shirt that Steve had over his skin. That shirt was very acceptable, and Tony was all grins. Steve gently rolled his eyes and he softly said the word, NO.
Tony gasped pretty loudly. Steve Rogers never refused him, and it made the older brunette warm up. Steve tried to hand him the ugly shirt again, but Tony wasn't gunna do it. Nope.
He used his tech to cover up his skin instead. The joke was over, because the scar on his skin was no longer visible. Steve felt better, and their conversation began to change. It got quieter between them, but the touching kept going.
"Do you want to go home?"
They just went through something that was pretty overwhelming, and Steve wanted to see where Tony was at. The soldier had a feeling that Tony wasn't really in the mood to celebrate, and he didn't have to.
Tony thought about what he was asked. He wasn't sure, so he kept twisting on that shirt. He felt conflicted about what happened. Tony wanted to explain everything to Steve, but what he knew was vague.
"Yes, in a little while."
Tony just wanted to shove his face against Steve's chest. That's all he wanted to do. Steve's body was home for him, and the older Tony wanted to cry. He got that way when death was on his mind.
He knew that it was going to be fine, but his current thoughts were pretty dark. The two of them looked like they were gunna kiss, and that whole scene was making the younger Tony burn up.
WHY THE FUCK WERE THEY STILL IN THE BUBBLE?
He was forced to see his older self mingle and be all cute with the older Stephen, now he was all hot and bothered cuz there he was with Big Steve. Sheesh...
Baby Tony was wigging out. He felt exposed again, and he swallowed hard. Tony kinda glanced over at the two people that shared a mirror sphere with him. Baby Stephen had his own thoughts about what he saw, but he kept it to himself.
His older self obviously had feelings for the older Tony. He remembered something that he said, and it was getting clearer.
Baby Steve was thinking about how comfortable his older self was. He looked very happy, at ease, and very... himself. The younger Steve was quiet as well. He kept watching as the younger Tony started raising hell.
He wanted OUT. The baby tried to kick at the walls of the stupid mirror dimension. The older Stephen could hear all of his NOISE. He was trying to listen to Thor as he sat at a giant table.
The Sorcerer Supreme dropped the dimension out from under them. It disappeared and all three of them fell onto the hard ground. The older Steve and Tony didn't expect it.
They saw the crash landing and all of the squabbling that followed. Baby Tony stood up quickly and he started brushing off his clothes. He wasn't covered with dirt, but he acted like his clothes were covered in dust.
His older self let go of that clean shirt. He also let go of the idea about going home, because his younger self looked upset. Big Tony stepped away from his main man, and he put his arm over Baby Tony's shoulders.
Those two started walking. They left the scene, because they needed to chat.
Big Steve was ditched. He watched them head off, but he didn't mind the two of them leaving. His younger self stood up, and made sure that Stephen got up off the ground as well.
It was a bit awkward for the would-be-sorcerer-supreme. Baby Stephen looked in the direction where everyone walked in. He wanted to ask his older self some questions.
"Can I talk to you?"
Baby Steve spoke quietly, and he had the same exact idea. He decided to take advantage of the situation.
The younger Steve had so many questions, and his older self started nodding his head. Of course he could talk to him. Big Steve was always open for communication.
The younger Stephen stepped away from the two of them. He backed up several steps, then he quickly turned around. He followed the voices that he heard in the giant kingdom.
Stephen focused on every voice. He could tell that both versions of Tony were toward his left. The two versions of Steve were behind him, and he heard his older self up ahead. Stephen slowly stepped forward.
He hesitated and stared blankly ahead. His heart felt filled with too many emotions. The young man had questions about what he was doing. He had questions about Clea, questions about Tony, his father, his mother, his brother, the person that he saw, and questions about his sister.
All of it was holding weight. Stephen was breaking right where he stood, and he wasn't sure if his older self cared. He reminded him of his father. They were very similar, and Stephen was traumatized by what his father told him.
It also felt like the time that they were spending with their older selves was coming to an end, so Stephen was incredibly conflicted. Tears were forming as he took another step. The young Sorcerer Supreme forced them away as best he could, and he walked forward.
He followed that voice until he saw his older self. He was sitting beside Clea, and listening to Thor. The older Clea was casually touching his knee. She did that all the time, because it sent energy all around his skin. They both looked up at the younger Stephen.
He looked like his heart was breaking. The older Stephen stared at him as he walked further into their space. Baby Stephen couldn't talk. He just stood still and waited for his older self to figure it out.
That didn't take very long because the sorcerer could hear all of his dispirited thoughts. Clea let go of that knee, and the older Stephen stood up. He kept staring at his baby self.
That broken thing didn't say a single word to him, but his face said it all. He was hurting bad, and the older Stephen made everything around them fade to black.
Everything and everyone around them disappeared, but the younger Stephen still couldn't speak.
Chapter: END
Thanks for reading.
