"You DO remember I'm hurt, not blind, right?" Stephen replied sarcastically.
"Hey... I could always let go."The two entered the door. Stephen was wearing a large, white, inflated vest that helped support his ribs so they wouldn't compress on the new tissue. His left arm was draped around Tony's shoulders. The two turned and walked sideways into Stephen's room.
"Computer, lights." Kirk commanded. Obediently, his lights came on. Slowly, they made their way to the couch.
Tony looked at the mural on the living room wall above the couch. "I can't believe you still have that thing." He remarked, shaking his head. Stephen purchased that mural on Mars during Spring Break during their third year at the Academy on Mars. Because the mural was so big, Steve had to fold the ends in order for it to fit on his dorm wall. Looking at the frayed mural, he could still see the fold marks. My, how things had changed since then. "You still have that steering wheel, too?"
Stephen slid down onto his couch with an 'oomph'. He nodded his head. Pointing, he answered, "It's in my bedroom hanging on the wall along with vintage, 1964 Mustange bumper," He added a proud nod.
Tony rolled his eyes. "That must REALLY have the girls lining up, huh?" He sat down in the matching recliner caddie corner to the couch behind the glass coffee table. Now THIS seemed to be like old times. He never knew how much he missed them.
Stephen examined his friend thoughtfully. Tony was hanging around for a reason. I could have made it here by myself, he thought. The way Tony's eyes lingered on the mural... he was obviously waxing nostalgic on simpler times... not that they were that much simpler. Like it or not, those Academy days were gone and so were the lives they used to live. "Yeah, yeah," Kirk finally remarked. "They're not beating down my door the way they are for you." Stephen gave him a wry grin.
Tony gave him a smart-alec mimic of Steve's facial expression and stood up. "I'm thirsty. You want something?" He headed for the food replicator.
Kirk nodded. "Yeah, thanks. I'll take a cola."
Tony nodded back. "Sounds good. Computer; two ice cold glasses of cola." The window below the replicator in the wall glowed and shimmered. As the light faded, he removed two long glasses from the alcove. As Tony walked back, he noticed a Christmas tree in the far corner of the living room. It was maybe a meter and a half tall, with brightly colored lights blinking all around. At the top, just as back in his Academy dorm, there was a crown. "When did you put that up?"
Stephen turned to look at the tree. "A little over a week ago, I guess."
Tony handed him a glass as he sat back down. "Yeah, I guess I haven't been in here since our little..." He looked down. Having had some time to reflect on the events of the past several weeks, he had come to the humbling conclusion that Steve was right, T'Nia was right, and he was a jerk. This was going to be a hard admission to make.
Stephen interrupted him. This was finally going to get brought up again. Maybe they can finally put it all behind them. After all, events of the past couple of days had convinced him there were more important things than being in charge. He wasn't exactly begging for a promotion in the first place. He wasn't about to let it ruin his friendship. "Look, Tony... about that..."
Tony held up his hand. "Hang on, Steve." Tony gathered his strength and looked him in the eyes. "I'm really, really sorry. I was a one hundred percent, genuine horse's ass. You had every right to be mad." There... he said it. A fifty kilo weight just came off his heart.
Thank goodness, Steve thought. "No, I had no right telling you that you needed to grow up. I didn't know all the facts..."
"You knew enough." Tony continued shaking his head. "I did need to grow up. I was being selfish." He sat back, a defeated look on his face. It was time to come clean about everything... well, almost everything. "Look, this 'my-Academy-buddy-is-now-my-commanding-officer' thing may take some getting used to, but I had no right putting you in that position."
Stephen was thrilled that this might actually be over. "I'm sorry, too." He smiled. "Still friends?" He offered up his glass.
Tony accepted the toast. "Oh, you aren't getting rid of me that easily. Now... I'm not saying I'll be perfect from here on out... but I'll try." He took a long drink.
"Good," Stephen replied with a smile. "Then I'll try to keep you out of the brig for insubbordination." He took a long drink, too.
Tony smiled. "Good... because it's still not built yet."