Disclaimer - I own nothing you recognise.

Challenges listed at the bottom.

Word Count - 619

Fic Detail - TonySteve / Soulmate!au

Belong To You

Tony's skin was bare. It had been all of his life. He tried to pretend that he wasn't ashamed of it, but he couldn't lie to himself, and his father certainly hadn't minced his words.

If Tony didn't have a soulmate, then there was obviously something wrong with him. Tony tried not to let it bother him, that his father clearly thought he was broken, or unworthy. He tried to believe that he was hard as diamond and let the words slide off him, but they never did.

Nothing his father said had ever slid off him; his words cut deep every time.

…

Tony woke up from his nap, blinking blearily. He'd been working nonstop for the past week, and he'd barely had a moment to himself. Stretching, he caught sight of a black mark on his arm and resigned himself to a quick shower before he got on with more work.

Oil was a pain in the ass to get off the skin if you left it too long.

He stepped under the water, still half asleep and scrubbed at his skin. When he realised the black was still there, he glared at it.

And then froze.

It wasn't oil. It was words.

"What the—"

He stepped out of his shower and dried himself absently, redressing. When he returned to his workshop, he sat down heavily on his stool and stared at the words.

"J, am I awake right now?"

"Yes, Sir. The words appeared one hour and fifty four minutes ago."

"Holy shit."

He traced the words reverently, committing them to memory. He wasn't sure what they meant, but he was determined to find out.

I don't belong here.

…

"Mr Stark, would you just wait a—"

"You've had Captain America here for a little over two weeks, found by my team, and you didn't bother to tell me. I'm not feeling all that charitable towards you at the moment, Nick."

"Tony, we had to give him time to get used to being here. To him, it was 1945 two weeks ago!"

"And yet, now it's 2011 and you're keeping me away from my soulmate, so fuck you."

Nick's eyes widened. "How do you—"

Tony pulled his sleeve up to reveal his newest words; Do I really still need to be Captain America? Can't I just be Steve Rogers?

"Fuck me," Nick gasped.

"I'll pass," Tony smirked. "But you'll take me to him, immediately, yes?"

"I… yeah. Yeah, of course. Come on Tony."

Slightly concerned by the suddenly cooperative director, Tony followed after Nick. While concerned, he was more interested in meeting Steve at the moment, and that made caution a foreign concept.

Nick knocked on a door and pushed it open, revealing a minimalistic gym and a god battering a punching bag.

"Cap? This is Tony Stark," Nick said, gesturing to Tony.

Tony stepped forwards and tilted his head slightly in curiosity as he looked at his soulmate. "Has anyone actually called you Steve since you've been here?" he asked.

Steve shook his head mutely, his eyes downcast, and Tony gave Nick a scathing look.

"It's nice to meet you, Mr Stark," Steve said, apparently reminding himself of his manners.

"Tony, please," Tony replied, stepping closer. "You… are you getting words? Sorry, I'm not usually quite so rude, but—" he pulled his sleeve up for a second time. "I think these belong to you."

Steve's eyes widened, and he slowly pulled up his own sleeve to show Tony the words scrawled on his arm.

I think these belong to you.

Tony grinned and nodded to the door. "Wanna get out of here?"

Steve seemed to hesitate for a second before he nodded. "I'd love too."

Written for:

Romance Awareness, Day 22 - One sentence a day that you say/write appears on your soulmates' skin.

Romance Awareness, Extra - 33. Ashamed

365. 226. Diamond

1000. 329. Taking a Nap