Comfortember Day Four: Friends [Iron Bros]

Tony had been looking forward to today.

Rhodey had been gone overseas for two weeks and Tony missed him, even if they managed phone calls. Phone calls weren't the same as being in person. He missed his Rhodey Bear. They made some plans that after Rhodey got settled back into his apartment, they'd finally meet up and spend the whole weekend together.

When 2:00PM came around, Tony was in his suit and flying off to meet Rhodey outside his apartment and in the parking lot. He made sure to exit his suit before rushing forward and almost knocking Rhodey off his feet when he collected him in a big bear hug.

Rhodey laughed and returned the hug, patting Tony's back. "Nice to see you too, Tones."

Tony smiled and gave him another squeeze. Although he heard Rhodey's voice over the phone, it still wasn't the same as it was in person.

"I missed you," Tony said, finally pulling back but keeping his hands on Rhodey's shoulders. "It's good to see you aren't hurt."

"The same goes to you. I almost expected a black eye or something," Rhodey teased.

Tony scoffed and pushed Rhodey's shoulder playfully. Rhodey did have a point though. Tony had a tendency to get injured while Rhodey was away and even when he wasn't. He had some bad luck in the injury department. But it wasn't like Rhodey came home unscathed all the time either! So they were even.

Rhodey looked over Tony's shoulder and shook his head when he saw the Iron Man suit. He gave Tony a look.

"What?" Tony asked innocently.

"You couldn't just drive here? You had to be this extra?" The words might sound annoyed or cold to most people, but Tony knew better. This was another way Rhodey teased and Tony was expecting it.

Tony said, with a smirk, "Honey Bear, I am always extra."

Rhodey laughed. "Yeah, you are."

"By the way, I'm not leaving this parked here. So, that means-"

"You're not carrying me on that," Rhodey interrupted.

"Honey Bear," Tony whined.

"I'll race you in my War Machine armor."

Tony smirked and went back to his suit. "Bring it on!"

And so, after Rhodey got into his War Machine armor, the two of them took off in unison, ignoring the people in awe down below. Tony made a show of doing different maneuvers. Rhodey was not one to back down and pulled off impressive maneuvers of his own.

They both did some bragging and tossed harmless taunts at each other as they flew to the Tower. Thanks to the power of their suits, it only took them fifteen minutes to get to the Tower. It would've taken less time if they weren't busy showing off and going the more scenic route, but in the end, neither cared. It was a good race.

Tony let Rhodey win by landing four seconds behind him.

"Good job, old buddy," Tony said, stepping out of his suit and watching as Rhodey exited his.

Rhodey hummed skeptically, giving Tony the knowing look. Usually Rhodey landed last, though it wasn't by much. They were pretty much tied with only ten seconds at most being the difference. Tony's suit was just naturally faster.

Tony walked over and wrapped his arm around Rhodey's shoulders as they made their way inside.

"So, I got all our movies ready and you'll never believe what I found while I was looking through one of my closets."

One of Tony's many closets.

"What?" Rhodey asked.

"Board games," Tony replied with a big smile. "Like, real board games. From back in our college years!"

"How in the hell did you keep those in good shape?"

"Hey, I never said they were in good shape. I just found them laying around…"

"Uh-huh."

"It'll be much more fun than electric games, as much as I love my technology. This feels more special."

Rhodey patted the top of Tony's head and smiled. Tony leaned into his touch.

"Hello, Colonel Rhodes," FRIDAY greeted when the two of them stepped into the living room.

"Hey, FRI."

"I hope your ride home was well," FRIDAY said pleasantly. What a sweet girl, Tony was so proud of the growth of his AI.

"It was, thank you."

Tony made his way to the coffee table and lifted up an old box that he was surprised hadn't fallen apart. "See, look at this!"

"You kept The Game of Life?"

"Rhodey. How many times did Mama Rhodes make us play this when we were at your house?"

"You have a point."

"I always do," Tony cheered and Rhodey rolled his eyes fondly. "Now sit! You set this up, I want to grab some drinks."

As Rhodey made his way over, Tony patted his shoulder and headed into the kitchen. He grabbed some cola from the fridge and also made sure to grab some napkins.

"FRI, be a dear and order us two large pizzas. Our regulars," Tony requested, heading back into the living room.

"Yes, Boss."

Tony sat on the floor again and put the drinks and napkins off to the side of the coffee table to make sure there was room for Life. Considering that Tony was only gone for barely a minute, Rhodey had the whole thing set up. Almost the whole thing, anyway. He noticed something and so did Rhodey.

"There's some pieces missing," they said at the same time.

"Like I said, it wasn't in great condition," Tony said. "But I thought for sure all the pieces were there. Gimme the box."

Tony grabbed the box and Rhodey opened his soda. Tony scowled as he shook the box, as if the missing pieces were going to magically appear. There was nothing left in the box and he didn't miss the amused look Rhodey gave him. Tony huffed and plopped the box to the side.

"Whatever! We don't need all the pieces. We can still have fun."

"Of course we can."

Rhodey's smile was contagious and it made Tony's annoyance go away. He missed this. He was going to savour every moment of it and naturally FRIDAY was going to record all their fun.

XXX

Tony and Rhodey played Life for two hours before switching to Tony's old game of Monopoly. It was no surprise that some pieces were also missing from that, but the two of them made it work. Rhodey made sure to call Tony out when he cheated and Tony would respond by calling him Sour Patch.

Their pizza arrived before long and they went through it during their game, talking about some of their old college days. They played Monopoly for two hours like they did with Life. Tony then declared it was time for their movie marathon. Unlike the board games, he used his advanced technology.

While FRIDAY got the movie list up, Tony got the popcorn ready and made sure to grab more cans of cola. Tony sat next to Rhodey and placed the popcorn and cola to the side. He got nice and comfortable and Rhodey spoke up.

"After the old board games, I'm surprised you didn't whip out DVDs. VCRs. Remember those?"

"I wish I didn't. Makes me feel like a dinosaur," Tony complained.

Rhodey laughed. "You're getting up there in years, that's for sure."

"Hey, you're older than me! That makes you a fossil!"

Rhodey swatted the back of Tony's head lightly. "You're a little shit," Rhodey said, with a fond tone.

"But you love me anyway, Platypus~"

"Always and forever, Tones."

Tony smiled softly.

James Rhodes was Tony's first real friend. He didn't want his money, he didn't rudely tease him about his age, he didn't manipulate him in any way to get free gifts. He always stood up for him and protected him when the older students bullied him and harassed him for either being Tony Stark or because of his age.

Rhodey also helped Tony when he was a pain in the ass kid and got drunk. He took care of him when he was sick. He paid attention to Tony's feelings and he even had the guts to stand up to Howard when his father berated him.

Rhodey was truly the best friend. Tony wouldn't trade him for anything in the world.

Tony sighed in content and leaned against Rhodey's shoulder. Rhodey wrapped his arm around Tony seamlessly. He started to run his fingers through Tony's hair. Tony closed his eyes and shifted closer.

He wouldn't trade this for anything.

Author's Note: Ah, this was a fun one to do. I hope ya'll liked the first Iron Bros chapter. Also I wanna say real fast that this is Pre Civil War.

Tomorrow we're back to Iron Dad and Spider-Son!

That's all for now. I'll see ya'll in the next chapter.

Thanks for reading!

~Kurosaki