Lessons In Love: Chapter Ninety-Seven: Circles (Part 2)
The dinner table was loud at first, and it was full of discussion. Tony managed the conversation, and he introduced Stephen and Steve to his father. The meet and greet was great, but after a while...
It got quiet. Steve was a very polite person. He was mostly quiet too, but he knew how to maintain a conversation with people that were older than him.
Stephen was the exact opposite. You couldn't say that he was naturally polite. He never really put himself in a position to be polite or impolite. The would-be-sorcerer didn't say much at the table. He quietly ate, and he mainly listened to everyone else.
Stephen was an observer. When he was comfortable, you couldn't shut him up. But in that moment, he felt both nervous and hesitant to speak. Tony picked up on that, but he didn't try to force anything out of him.
Howard spoke with Steve for a little while about Jarvis. Their conversation dominated the table. When it dwindled down, Howard started glancing over at Stephen. The father was curious about him.
Howard sat back in his chair and he decided to try to talk to him.
"So Stephen, what part of Nebraska are you from?"
That's how Howard decided to break the ice. He had enough information on Stephen to know that he shouldn't ask about his siblings, but he didn't know much else about his upbringing.
Stephen slowly swallowed his food. He looked up from his plate, and saw that Howard Stark was looking at him. What part?
"I grew up in Aurora. It's a small town, about an hour from Omaha."
Stephen had to bring up Omaha because that was usually the only part of Nebraska that people knew. Howard didn't really know anything about the Midwest, but he knew about the money that came out of that state.
A man named Warren Buffet was from Omaha. He was super rich, but Howard had a feeling that Stephen didn't care about that.
"My family has a farm there. My father distributes food to a few grocery stores, less now than before. I'm not really a "husker" tho."
Meaning he had no pride for his home state whatsoever. In his opinion, the entire state of Nebraska could burn to the ground. Stephen never felt at home there. He drew his shoulders upward as he spoke and he gave Howard an indifferent response.
"What the heck is a husker?"
Tony had to cut in. He laughed at the word as he turned his focus toward Stephen. The baby Tony had no idea what a person in the Midwest did with their time. Stephen smiled at his laugh, and he looked over at the brunette.
"The Cornhuskers is a college football team that is very popular. People in Nebraska are called huskers. They husk or shuck corn, I do not."
Tony started laughing. He thought what he heard was hilarious. The brunette looked over at Steve. The blonde kept eating. He was amused with Tony's laughter, and he was about to say that he understood the husking reference. Steve knew how to clean and shuck corn.
In his time, you always had the husk on the corn. That was how you always bought the corn from the store. He thought it was odd that Tony didn't understand. Corn was a staple food in Steve's home.
Stephen and Steve looked at each other. The two of them were in a bit of disbelief.
"You don't eat corn?"
Steve was actually asking every Stark in the room. Tony laughed again. What? Corn like, popcorn? They didn't eat corn. Tony barely knew what it was. He thought the food was weird. Howard and Maria were pretty silent. They knew what corn was, but Tony's behavior made both of them smile.
"I think they just eat caviar, Steve."
Stephen spoke and he finally smiled. Obviously, the Stark family was too rich for corn. That fact was made clear, and Stephen was amused.
"Wait, what is caviar?"
Now, Steve was lost in the discussion. He didn't know that food name at all. Howard heard that and he finally cracked. Steve's innocent face made him laugh. His laugh was almost identical to Tony's.
The father and son had similar expressions. Their mannerisms were similar as well, and Stephen kept looking at the two of them. He forgot to answer Steve's question.
Stephen thought about his own father, and it immediately brought his mood downward. Stephen started staring at his plate. He felt like he was bringing down the entire room.
"I really should head home. My younger brother should be there by now."
Stephen slowly pushed his chair back, and he stood up from the table. Everyone looked up at him. He stepped backward, and turned to head out.
Tony quickly stood up. He didn't want Stephen to leave like that. Wait wait waaaaiiit. Tony followed him out into the hall. Stephen didn't want to form a portal and vanish from the meal. He started going toward the front door like a "normal" person.
Tony got in his way. He stopped the would-be-sorcerer and asked him to hold up a few times. Stephen stared at Tony. He looked down at his messy hair.
"I get the corn thing was stupid, I know what it is. Did it offend you? I think my dad meant to get you talking. He wants... I think he just wants to get to know you."
Tony felt very rushed. He was talking pretty quickly, and his baby heart had accelerated. Stephen just kept staring at the person in his path. Tony's face looked very warm, and he wasn't making any eye contact with Stephen.
Did Howard want to get to know him? Or, did Tony want to get to know him? For some reason, Stephen heard more out of what Tony said.
"I wasn't offended. I just started thinking about something else."
Stephen didn't want to talk about his father. Tony finally looked up at him. He wanted to know what that "something" was. He wished that he could get Stephen to open up to him, but Tony didn't think that it was in the cards.
He noticed it a few times with his older self. Baby Tony saw things very differently. The older Stephen was much more open and reactive with someone else. Tony thought briefly about Clea.
He immediately thought that she was the "something" on Stephen's mind, and his young heart felt jealous again. Tony looked back toward the dining room, and he tried very hard to hide it.
He knew that there was a deep bond between Clea and Stephen. Tony told himself that Stephen was either already in love with her, or he'd be in love with her very soon. The older versions of them were married, right? It felt like they were meant to be.
Stephen gave Tony his address and his phone number. He mentioned them "meeting up" at some point while he was in Manhattan. Stephen planned on going back to school, so he wanted to spend time with Tony at some point before that.
Tony processed what he heard, then he felt Stephen's soft lips on his. Their kiss was gentle, but very brief. The portal to Stephen's apartment was opened up, and Stephen said goodbye.
Tony was spaced out for a long while, but he quietly let him go. He went back to the dining room and sat down.
He heard his father talking to Steve about Bucky. Steve was hesitant to discuss him in front of Tony, but Howard wasn't aware of that.
He told Steve that Bucky was quiet, but hilarious. Tony felt a number of feelings where he sat. Invisible was kind of the biggest feeling that he felt.
Weird was at a close second.
Chapter: END
Thanks for reading.
