Tony and the Curveball
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Tony had a lot to get out of his system after landing on the manicured turf of Yankee Stadium. A lot being the understatement of the century. Natasha's snart-ass suggestion didn't help.
The only time he felt this close to losing his shit was when shot his way out of that cave Afghanistan. He only knew of one thing that could make it better: taking out his frustrations on a certain oblivious Demon Lord and bringing him home.
Tony didn't miss the irony that he had gotten exactly what requested: him out of the tower and here he was dragging him back home. Cute.
Well, it's not like he only wanted Sesshomaru gone. He had wanted them all gone.
He had wanted to go back to the way things were. It was safer that way, better, smarter. He didn't have to deal with people coming from the bifrost, SHIELD, or otherwise and somehow manipulating him into doing what they wanted. Less than a month ago, he didn't have to deal with a Demon Lord getting his chest blown out on his front lawn.
He didn't have to deal with gazing into that daunting, gaping void of trust. Which, by the way, was way more terrifying than any space portal. Tony would know.
His foray into trust with an aloof, weirdo Demon Lord blew like a VS-50 landmine, but he graciously allowed him to stay. He couldn't send them packing, he lost that battle, but he knew how to win wars. If he let SHIELD take Sesshomaru, he would have lost more than just that fight, SHIELD would have won the whole thing. SHIELD would have definitely thrown him into some 'Hanoi Hilton' and tried to study his DNA, tried and may have succeeded in taking away both of his swords to try their hands at producing their own super weapons.
The thought of Sesshomaru strapped to some table by his thin striped wrists made his blood surge. The sight of unfocused, glassy gold eyes and clumped silver hair incited a fire in him that smoked out his lungs better than any blowtorch.
He didn't want to react so viscerally to Sesshomaru baring his fangs at some nameless SHIELD agents or his delicate, pointed ears lowered and flattened in threat. He didn't want to care so much, but he was going run with it. It lined up with his personal belief that SHIELD shouldn't get to just capture anyone.
He how grueling, chest-caving, thought hollowing torture was. How being broken down to nothing more than a tool to be used, and he wasn't about to let it happen to anyone he gave a damn about, especially his moody Demon Lord.
But he volunteered for it! At first Tony couldn't wrap his mind around it, he would walk into the Lion's Den for Loki….but when the dust of his whirlwind emotion settled, he realized he would do the same for Rhodes or Pepper.
And SHIELD tried to kill two birds with one surface to air missile: get a new super weapon, they did lose the Tesseract after all, and attempt to render Tony Stark and his weapons obsolete.
And Tony wouldn't and couldn't ever be obsolete, but not that SHIELD would be smart enough to understand that.
Tony knew that SHIELD wanted to be independent of him. Let 'em try. Tony knew now with a threat of an invasion looming that they could find some funding from other governments, NGOs, private citizens, but it probably wouldn't be enough. Too bad, he'd be revoking their funding anyway starting today.
Yeah, Fury didn't get to 'extreme home makover' a living room Pepper had all picked out, hack Jarvis, use his tech, and try to take his stuff, and continue to get his money. He knew he once said: keep your friends rich and your enemies rich and then find out which is which, but even that advice had its limits.
SHIELD needed him, not the other way around.
Preventing Fury from getting what he wanted on principle wasn't the only reason he didn't want Sesshomaru shackled in SHIELD's detainee bunker. He came to terms with, for better or for worse (geez bad marriage vow pun there) he wanted the Demon, and he got what he wanted.
Which is why once again he had to go get him back. Again. He would have had to get a microchip chip ready for him if he didn't already have a scaled down version of D.E.M.O.N.S. ready at Stark Tower. With that up, he could locate, find, stalk, and hunt the current object of his complete frustration in no time flat.
Before, he activated D.E.M.O.N.S. he couldn't tell if the barrier had pinged him or not. It was a weird, sight tug on his chest like bad heartburn. It wasn't until Pepper came back with a busted phone and that he kicked himself for not suiting up.
He had been on a roll when she came in. He was tracing every line of code, every server the trace bounced off from to locate the origin of the hack and he was so close. Slamming his fist on his work desk yelling 'Eureka! Tony Stark is hot', close.
She came by to say, apparently three things: One to remind him of the SI gala, aka snoozefest with those same wind-farm people tomorrow. He was going to put up a fight that now was not the best time to go hobnob with some pearl clutchers and 'smoking jacket' wearing clowns but he didn't. Only because she was so shaken about something else; she was being quiet. Pepper would usually be lecturing him on how he swore he'd go and how he was ignoring the company… but instead she just held out her phone.
She asked for a new Starkphone, easily done, and for him to go talk to a Demon Lord who apparently earned her trust. Not so easily done and he let her know that.
Pepper scowled, forming those those little lines between her eyebrows. Tony would bet Jarvis that she was hiding something important, like 'Thor proposed to Steve with Mjolnir' important.
He let her go because she unintentionally struck a nerve with him. It irrationally annoyed him that Pepper would have him go to Sesshomaru, not the other way around. If he really 'got it' he would come home. It caused his pulse to jackhammer in his ears. He fought his ego, his own gnawing, acidic anxiety about falling for any trap or intricately worded noose that SHIELD slung up for him. He fought it hard.
And Sailor Moon just thumbed his nose at him, like he loved to do to valet drivers he knew would scratch his car. It didn't even occur in his mind that what he did was actually a fucking hard thing for him to do.
"Sir, I must advise that the previous chaff projectile so close to the Chrysler building, along with our indelicate landing in Yankee Stadium has rendered your previous goal of 'stealth' mission, rather moot." Jarvis sounded in his ear and Tony sighed. He readied his repulsors and his scanned an unamused Sesshomaru standing in a partially shredded red hoodie.
'Bruce didn't mention his new grunge look. Is he trying to look like a back-up bass player for a subpar garage band?' Tony then noticed his hair was pulled back and his chest clenched and his blood simmered, cramping his lungs. Who did he let dress him? Courtney Love?
"Stealth just didn't seem as rewarding when I really thought about it. Guess I just can't do low profile." Tony flexed his fist and debated if he should really go no holds barred in a decision Steve would definitely think would be 'ill-advised'. Ill-advised it was then. He had a lesson to teach. School was in session.
First class on the schedule: discrete mathematics.
Everything Sesshomaru did, he calculated. He readjusted his Backstreet Boy blast to avoid him when the Chitauri came back. He saw him spar with Reindeer games. Every glance, every flick of a wrist he overthought like a tween asking out his first crush. So, just how did he equate dancing to the pied piper Loki's fife with something he would ever want?
He got out of Bruce what made his genius brain get manipulated by Reindeer Games.
"Sir, The Jolly Green Traitor requests your presence." Tony ran a hand down his face and throat to rest it on his arc reactor. He drummed his fingers and leaned back.
He found the origin of the hack. Clint's hardware. Clint's ip address, user ID, password, everything. It took a long time, the trail bounced, redirected, off countless servers, but it started with Clint.
Whoever this hacker was, was good. Not SHIELD good, better. Like, almost as good as him, which spooked him. Natasha was also at a loss from the text he received from her: 'No luck on the weasel, but he will go 'pop' soon.'
He didn't trust her to care about his own security; he trusted her to care about helping Clint.
Throughout the hack, he kept finding scrambled bits of code, little blips here and there of 'Operation: Ultron' and the code words 'Merlin', and 'Blue Duck'.
Tony wasn't born yesterday: he knew it wasn't Clint. Despite pissing him off with flirting with his man-candy, he believed he was definitely being groomed as the perfect fall guy.
Clint also couldn't weave a tapestry of code this intricate. Mayyybe Natasha on an extremely good day, and apparently, this mystery hacker could as well. That that didn't sit well with Tony. Nothing at the moment did, so he sipped on his scotch, which he upgraded to after Pep left, and decided not to tell anyone what he found out.
And he no idea what 'Operation: Ultron' could be or what information they got from Jarvis on his records. Apparently, he didn't get everything when he hacked SHIELD'S records on the helicarrier three years ago.
Tony stood up, feeling just a shade lightheaded. It was about time to turn this all around. He'd show Bruce just how badly he fucked up.
"Jarvis ready phase one of D.E.M.O.N.S. It's time to shine." Tony took one more swig of scotch for the road and strode out with a confidence he was determined to make real in his tense chest.
He almost ran right into Bruce he was so in his own head.
"Beware all… did you really have Dum-e write 'ye'? And is that supposed to be Fury?" Bruce gestured to Dum-e who held up which read 'Beware all ye who enter.' With a not so coincidental likeness to Fury's face with a cross bones beneath it.
He had a few quips up his sleeve, like 'if the peg leg fits'...but he just wasn't feeling it.
"What do you want, Benedict Banner? I'm thin on humor for thieves." Tony didn't want to say his name, maybe he was being petty but he just couldn't pretend everything was a-ok. Shipshape if they were keeping the pirate theme going.
"I came back to reconcile, I guess." Bruce replied, voice losing the humorous edge it previously had.
"You guess? Huh, see, Robin Hood, I was sort of hoping for more of a grovel at my feet, begging for forgiveness sort of reconciliation." Tony squared up to Bruce who simply exhaled deeply and adjusted his glasses.
"I'm sorry Tony. I don't expect you to forgive me easily, or I guess, anytime soon." Bruce said simply and even though he read earnest as he usually did, Tony didn't buy that he really got it.
Tony drummed his fingers on his arc reactor, the youki inside tingled against his finger tips.
"It wasn't just about Sailor Moon. It wasn't just about my ego, it definitely wasn't about the whole teamwork thing. Weapons. You knew, Natasha knew. I got out of that, way out. I was finally free. Free of… my father's shadow, free of hurting people for my own gain and what?…What Bruce? What did you do? You hand delivered Cerberus and Blitzen to an organization we both don't trust. Two toxins, specifically tailored, mind you, to kill the guy who knows most about our enemy and a guy who you know I got a…whatever with. Those toxins, if properly weaponized, could revolutionize chemical warfare, did you think about that? Everything…everything I worked so hard to get past, Everything I worked so hard to protect, you helped destroy, or use to potentially start WWIII." Tony caught the fire in his chest and spat it out like an M9 Armored flamethrower.
Tony ignored the deep-down gut twist that this wasn't really all Bruce's fault. But he was here, and he was getting the heat. He should have known. He trusted him. He let him in his lab, gave him access. He broke that.
"Tony, SHIELD doesn't have the toxins, only Natasha touched them. We were trying to protect you." Bruce hissed out like a deflating balloon and Tony wouldn't stand for it.
"Funny, see maybe my memory is fuzzy, but, which organization almost nuked New York and who flew the nuke into a space portal? Who really protects who? Which guy is literally named the God of Lies? You should have trusted me over them." Tony's anger still bubbled in his brain as he strode past Bruce and up to the roof.
"Tony…maybe you're right, but this invasion…the way Loki acts. He acts like we won't all walk away from this. He acts like it would be a miracle if we did." Bruce led and Tony battled the static in his head and the sandpaper in his lungs. He knew that. He doubted Loki would have given him some stupid magic poison if he didn't think all of Midgard's 'ants' would get fried by a magnifying glass.
"It's not all about Bambi, but fine. Maybe we won't. Maybe that huge beer-bong shaped space ship, 'Underwear' or whatever, will tear the Earth apart. Maybe none of us will make it, but I'll be damned if I'm letting SHIELD shoot someone I care about, let alone have my friends think I'm not capable of defending myself and mine. I'm Tony Stark, former merchant of death turned Iron Man and that this is all on me, not SHIELD, not 'Snakes on a Plane'." Tony motioned with his jaw out to the roof and Bruce followed wordlessly.
"You can't act like this is all on you, you're a part of the Avengers." Bruce's voice dropped and Tony ignored the implication that he was being dramatic. It was the equivalent of someone telling him to calm down. How could he have through that Bruce knew him so well? Sure, he was a genius like he was, but he didn't get him.
A shadow of loneliness huddled into the back of Tony's mind.
"Et tu Brute Bannerus? Wrong. What exactly has SHIELD done so far? How stable is Loki? Yeah, thought so, and I think your little stunt today definitely proves I am." Tony put out his finger and pointed to the sky. He had installed a miniature anti-ballistic missile interceptor launch point in the base of Stark Tower in case SHIELD had the brilliant idea to nuke New York again. "Distant Extraterrestrial Military Orbital Neural Signal. D.E.M.O.N.S. for short, it's loosely based off my old Jericho."
"And Phil thought SHIELD was a mouthful." Bruce smirked but Tony was just too mad to let him get away with humor so he hardened his stare. His skin could be smoking his blood had so much fire in it. "You finally got the proximity barrier viable?" Tony ignored the recovery question because he was done saying 'yes'.
"Just watch, it's my turn for a show." Tony pressed the touch screen and the rocket lifted off with the capsules of youki inside he had personally developed.
"It's funny. You say it's all on you, but who's uh…magic are you using here?" Bruce's glasses gleamed softly from the exploding blue youki. And Tony whipped around quickly, offended.
"You know he isn't magic, that's Cobra Commander, and I'm done talking about him. Sesshomaru is, like we've studied, a thermal imaging, astral body detecting, super predator…who is on my last nerve." Tony flushed with anger, he wasn't going to let him avoid him.
"Maybe you should just go get Clifford, and save us all a headache?" It had to be Natasha. She was a damn ninja. He wished D.E.M.O.N.S. worked against people who were plain grating.
"Jarvis suit me up." He darted a sharp, dark look Natasha's way and would have said something particularly nasty if it hadn't been for Little Miss Sunshine standing next to her. Human shields, really Natasha?
"For the record, I'm just testing D.E.M.O.N.S., not bringing him back." With his Mark XLVI suit fully equipped he launched after the one place he could find that pain in the ass, the Chrysler Building.
"You know, I've had a long day and the last thing I wanted to do is have to order pick-up when I really wanted delivery." Tony, decided that maybe firing off repulsor blasts in Yankee Stadium wouldn't be the best use of his rage, and again the whole 'reformed reckless menace' thing.
'Iron Man goes into violent rampage in Yankee Stadium.' Yeah maybe he would save Pep that headache. Her quiet demeanor still bothered him. Pepper didn't do quiet. She did manic rambling, accusations, and lectures.
"Ok, if you decided to be Loki's pet today because you thought I needed protection, you're way off base. Who picked up your blue sword and protected you today? Oh yeah, me. Not Bambi, not your crush, Legolas, me! If anyone needs protection, it's you." Tony barbed. Though the main propulsion on the back of his suit was corroded, he had enough to rocket towards Sesshomaru. With his right arm jacked back and his face twisted in a determined frown he unleashed a vicious right cross.
Which Sesshomaru dodged, gracefully. He could've at least blocked it! It just made Tony see a more vivid shade of red.
Sesshomaru cracked his knuckles and the infamous, deadly toxin formulated on his right arm as he swiped back with a quick counter. Tony twisted out of the way, but the claws clipped him anyway. Jarvis chattered but he recovered into a back-roundhouse kick which glanced Sesshomaru's left shoulder.
"Strike One… If you think my suit is just for show you're in for a rude awakening. This privatized world peace, it just so also happens to look good. I carried a nuclear warhead into space and came back to tell the tale. My mind and my tech saved me, and the people close to me." Tony held up a finger and sure as hell didn't miss the clenched jaw of Sesshomaru who darted quickly out of the way. He still got it, he wasn't rusty, he was ready.
Sesshomaru didn't respond with anything as he charged forward and raked his talons from the left shoulder down his arm, green sparks popping through the air. It made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.
Those same claws that trickled down his skin last night, that caused him to shiver and moan now turned on him. Was this now considered poetic?
"Easy on the merchandise princess, wouldn't want to break a nail." Tony taunted and wanted the reaction of 'This Sesshomaru is no woman' but Sailor Moon didn't even bat an eyelash. His ears however still moved and tented the torn 'heroin addict starter kit' sweatshirt. He wanted to tear the hood off his head and rip his hair free from that ponytail.
Was this some sort of disguise? Worst spy ever. How ridiculous he looked wearing a dirty, torn up hoodie with… what looked like nothing underneath it? Didn't he understand the concept of outerwear?
"Silent treatment? You can't possibly be pissy with me. You aren't the one just hosted the worst press conference in Stark Industries history, and this included my congressional hearing." Tony reignited the fire in his chest. He had a goal, he wanted to show him exactly who he pissed off. Exactly what he was made of.
Nothing.
"You arent the one who was betrayed by someone he trusted so well he gave him full access to his lab. I was." He barely managed to twist out of the way from a well-placed punch to circle around and deliver another crushing blow to Sesshomaru's back.
"Strike two, not on your A game are you Sailor Moon?" Tony his chest loosened, but he wasn't at all sure why. A part of him was happy to work all of this out, and to finally feel on top again. In control, firmly situated in the driver's seat.
Another part was just pretty stoked to spar against him and hold his own.
The force of the blow on Sesshomaru's back caused the Demon to vault forward and curl into a diving roll, flipping backwards.
That blow he hit him with shouldn't have sent him that off balance. Tony didn't get it, was he going easy on him? He just weathered those cannon attacks, why was he so easily overpowered now?
"Are you better not be going easy on me? If so, dick move. Time for Tony Stark to get serious. Yankee Stadium could use a face-lift anyway." Tony's sternum cramped acutely at the bile bubbling possibility. If Sesshomaru was holding back or going easy, has to change classes.
Second class on the schedule: trigonometry.
The only response he got was Sesshomaru uncoiling his glowing whip. His face remained impassive as ever.
"Ok, still nothing. I sacrificed my reputation, my pride, who knows probably my sanity. Everything that makes me, me, for you stay here at Stark Tower and you just ran away. And why did I have to do that? Oh, I know why, because you value Loki's assbackwards friendship over yourself, and me." Tony's lungs had shards of glass lacerating them he was so enraged. He wasn't shouting though as he walked surely over to Sesshomaru, chest repulsor glowing.
"I bet if Loki said jump off the bifrost you'd ask which side. If told you to wear a tie, I bet you would have worn one, and it'd be green." Tony wasn't sure why he thought of the tie thing, but the thought of Sesshomaru in green ratcheted up the chest repulsor's power to the youki enhanced 330%.
Sesshomaru's whip glowed a sinister green as he began to spin it.
"Why did you let yourself get hurt? Because Horns thinks it's a good idea? To preempt a supposed attack on my tower? To make Loki look good? He used you! He used you to fuck yourself and me over, and you don't care. You don't get it. I trusted you; I let you in. Your youki is in my suit. You were supposed to stop going solo and putting yourself in senseless danger. We were supposed to be a team, equals." He ignored Jarvis' endless nagging and planted his left foot and decided, fuck it. He rocketed towards Sesshomaru and fired both of his hand repulsors at the same time as a decoy.
Tony knew from watching Sesshomaru's spars he had issues with a barrage of long distance attacks. Sesshomaru whipped the two decoy shots out of the air just in time, but Tony timed his final attack perfectly. His chest repulsor went off, crimson hot. It hit him straight in the chest when his whip had slung back on the return. Sesshomaru fell into a kneel on the turf.
He had gotten pretty good at fighting guys with whips. Not that he was anything like Ivan Vanko. Not even close, but the overall principle remained the same.
"Strike three aaaand that's ball game, funny thing, I've never been much of a fan of sports, but I do love a good metaphor. Well…not you probably can appreciate my wit. I doubt you've been watching sportscent...um Lassie?" Tony rambled, blood pressure lessening and his pulse had stopped thundering in his temples. Wait, when had his pulse started racing that hard? Ok so maybe he went a little overboard with that repulsor blast. He meant to let off a little steam, but Sesshomaru was still kneeling, hood fallen off his head, silver hair still pulled back, streaming over his left shoulder, looking almost like Thor when he did his kneeling thing with mjolnir.
'Goal, achieved. I meant to rough him up. He couldn't be that hurt, his sword would have protected him, right? Or if he thought it would be too bad, he could have just deflected the shot with some of his youki. There was no way I'm going to feel guilty about this when he was going easy on me this whole time.' Tony resolutely walked over towards the Demon Lord who still had his right hand to his chest, ears back.
"Moonie, get up, let's go. I don't do extra innings." No response. Tony approached and Sesshomaru tipped his head up, eyes hard, jaw clenched, bangs sticking to the blue moon on his forehead. Dried blood streaked down his neck. He flipped up his face plate to make sure he was seeing him right in his eyes.
"Lesson learned: Never go easy on me, I'm full of surprises. You didn't even try to make it fun and least acknowledge my questions." Tony, now standing over him saw his white eyebrows knit forward in confusion as his sharp gold eyes watched his lips.
"…This Sesshomaru does not employ Bakusaiga in spars, nor did I hear you address me." It was Tony's turn to rock back in confusion. The blood down his neck had dribbled down his ears. The whole Anne Rice thing. Did his ear drums rupture again? What about those stupid hear aint's? Why didn't have them in? Did they get damaged?
"You're telling me that you didn't even hear any of it? Great, I've become Happy when I put the divider up in the Limo. What happened to your ears? " Tony sighed. He had wasted all of that energy, said all of that, well he wasn't about to go and repeat all of it now.
"...The device was damaged from the bullet, I removed both of them. My eardrums ruptured and I lack the youki to heal them." That caught Tony's attention. Wait. Fuck. Blitzen. Was it still in his system? He was able amplify its molecular structure a bit more than he could Sirius and Cerberus. It was then through one of the tears in the sweatshirt he spotted what had to be part of a bandage. Did Bruce bandage him up?
Is that why he didn't deflect any of the shots with his youki?
Maybe he hadn't been going easy on him. Maybe he had just been kicking a dog when it was down. Dick move. Despite, logically, Tony knowing he had every right to knock his block off for what he had done earlier, his gut churned like he had eaten a bad burrito.
"Well, that's what you get when you follow Jafar's orders, your body starts shutting down from his mouth garbage he calls words… Why did you do it?" Tony offered right hand to help him up, and noticed that Sesshomaru grabbed his wrist with his right hand. He didn't have to feel his body heat to have his mouth go dry at seeing the red stripes on his red suit.
The shade of red matched perfectly.
But then he noticed he hadn't grabbed his hand with his left, which was closer and made more sense…he hadn't actually used it at all. He helped Sesshomaru up and immediately yanked open one of the tears in the hoodie. His left shoulder was black and blue and most certainly broken, maybe dislocated.
That's right, Mjolnir.
He had taken a sucker hit from Mjolnir at close range, and he knew first hand that Point Break had a mean swing. Damnit. He had basically been fighting him deaf and one handed. Why did he do this to him? Why did he have to make him feel so guilty when he deserved a good kick in the ass?
Sesshomaru sighed through his nose.
"This Sesshomaru does not follow anyone. I have not followed an order in centuries, and I refuse to answer your inquiry." Sesshomaru seethed and Tony praised himself for hitting a non-physical sore spot. He examined the Demon Lord in front of him and inwardly winced. Now that he really looked at him, he had definitely seen better days.
His chest respulsor blast also welted his chest. Tony then looked at the youki infused repulsors, if Sesshomaru still lacked the youki to heal…maybe he could give him some?
"Question game. Set of three. Deal?" Tony's voice cannoned through the still air. Sesshomaru, regarded him uneasily. His gold eyes sharpened as he let go of Tony's wrist and despite everything, he missed the hand there.
"I acquiesce." Sesshomaru responded slowly. Tony put his palm out on his shoulder and put the repulsor strength on thirteen percent capacity and reset the wavelength and frequency to only emit the youki.
"Why didn't you come back?" Tony pointedly ignored the widening of Sesshomaru's eyes. Did he fear he would hit him at point blank range? He wasn't that much of a jackass. "Work with me here." Tony added and the repulsor flared to life.
"Your invitation was forced from you. You genuinely didn't seem to desire my presence any longer." Sesshomaru turned his head to his shoulder and narrowed his eyes, and looked back, features softening and Tony watched the shoulder, transfixed as the swelling went down.
Not want him?! He was everything. Need, no Tony Stark didn't do need. Desire…he wouldn't have done what he did for just anyone. But fair enough, he definitely would have liked some space…but yet. Here he was! Dragging his pale ass back home.
"Forced? No one forces me to do anything. I chose to lose a battle so I could win a war. I let you stay because for all Loki soliloquys about seeing around every corner, he certainly didn't see how today was going to turn out. I did. Bambi lost his mind and you were going to pay the price for what SHIELD was trying to turn into a win-win for them. Them getting you, and making me obsolete." Tony fired off quickly again. Sesshomaru's full lips thinned and Tony really just wanted to punish them again. Tony noticed that the dark, black bruising he was currently helping to heal was beginning to fade into an ugly yellow and fuchsia, or (is this puce?) color.
"Also, joke's on Fury, because now I can force you three to leave and there isn't a damn thing he can do about it." Tony smirked and Sesshomaru's red ears pricked up. He was still going to fuck with him. "But, I think I'll keep you around, you're starting to match my suits."
He couldn't get too mad at Thor for what he did, but it still didn't sit well with him.
"…This city has far too many humans in it for my liking. Your tower is the only place I can tolerate." Sesshomaru locked his sharp gold eyes on Tony's and his insides shredded like pulled chicken. He missed this, but he'd never admit it.
"So, you keep leaving the tower because you're a secret masochist?" Tony asked, kicking himself. He wanted to ask him what he did with Pepper, not keep rehashing something and sounding like some D-list celebrity soap opera star whom Thor could out-act.
"…It is not in my nature to linger in one place for long." Sesshomaru's ears lowered and Tony's blood began to simmer. He was right, he was just going to leave again. No. He was saying he wasn't going to stay in this time at all. Tony ripped his hand back and was about to say something when Sesshomaru opened that small mouth of his again. "But this Sesshomaru is no slave to his nature." He finished and Tony's gut launched to his throat like a torpedo.
Did this mean he wanted to try to stay? He could be so damn vague and cryptic and this stupid glimmer of hope made him angry.
"Because of Loki." Tony's voice raised, and he could tell blood rushed to his temples once more.
"I stayed on my own volition." Sesshomaru slowly clarified, eyes lazering into him.
"You say you don't follow him, but you just do whatever he says. He asked you help him prove another invasion was coming, he asked you to prove he failed an invasion on purpose, he convinced you to take part in this charade earlier today. You just do as he says, when he says it." Sesshomaru's eyes widened and those silvery eyebrows slanted ever so slightly.
Bingo, that's the reaction he was looking for.
"…You must think little of this Sesshomaru, to imply such motivations and lack of insight." Tony struck a nerve because Sesshomaru's voice dropped sharply and his fangs flashed. Tony decided to roll with it, but he didn't want to lose him. He still had one more question to ask after all.
"I get one more question, Sailor Moon, it's a good one so sit tight." Tony persisted, he always got what he wanted and he wanted to hear it from him. That he wasn't just here because of Loki. "Did you almost attack Fury and say you'd go with SHIELD to survivor island, only because of Loki?" Sesshomaru cracked his knuckles and then Tony knew he wasn't hallucinating when he saw his eyes bleed red and his markings move. Molecularly, he still didn't know how his skin could change colors like that. He could probably study him for years and still not tap the surface.
Sesshomaru jumped back, snarling, hand glowing green and blue youki pooling around his feet.
"You ordered me to leave despite not days ago desiring me to stay. You cast me out, and as a result splintered your beloved team. It was the only option left to protect Loki and Banner, and honor your order, your rule of your domain." Then it clicked for him. He said the words he needed to hear. Wanted not needed. Tony Stark didn't need.
Then Tony noticed his eyes started to bleed fully red and his hair started to spike. Shit. Maybe he went too far.
"Would you rather me have slain your Fury immediately with Bakusaiga, endangering the mission? Would you have rather me dishonor the law in your fortress and demand that Loki stay to protect him, like Rogers suggested? Would have rather me show my true form and rupture your humans' fragile harmony? Enlighten me of what you desired me to do when you clearly do not value me." Sesshomaru growled out, and Tony tilted his head to the side. Not value him? He couldn't be more off base, God did he hate the amount of baseball puns he was making.
'That was it. His immortality complex plus him not thinking I could care equaled helping Loki with the invasion. Everything he does he calculates.' Tony's arc reactor brightened, but went unnoticed.
Last class: Home Economics.
"The answers to your questions are no, no, no, and wrong." Tony announced with a wide, triumphant grin he should have trademarked. Sesshomaru's ears pricked up, touching the fabric at Stark's simple answer.
"Explain." Sesshomaru hissed, but Tony approached him calmly. By now they were practically at second base.
"Well, no to the first question because I'd rather you not make my tower into the next Chernobyl. No to the second, because you're right: my tower, my rules. No to the third, because I have no idea what you're talking about, but it sounds like a huge pain. Wrong to the last because who said I don't value you?" Tony put out his gloved hand and reactivated the repulsor on his shoulder, Sesshomaru still as marble.
"Everything you do deliberately calculated, even when it comes to Reindeer Games. Hell, you probably grow hair intentionally. I figured you wouldn't do it without a…well to you logical reason. I just wanted to know what it was." Tony continued "Time is money, and I don't waste time tracking down strays if I don't value them." Tony watched as Sesshomaru's full lips parted ever so slightly.
He attacked them with his own, tongue twisting in past his fangs.
Damn did he still send tingles down his spine. Damn did he still make him go semi hard already.
"You're coming back with me. You still owe me for the heart attack you caused me, and then some. " Tony's brown eyes danced dark and forbidden when he broke away from the kiss.
Pause.
"Very well." Sesshomaru murmured and reached up with his left arm and ran a talon down the wrist of his left glove. Tony hadn't realized till just then that Sesshomaru's shoulder had all but healed completely.
"You. Me. Workshop. Like Yesterday." Tony flipped his face plate back on and to be honest, he didn't remember much about the flight back to his tower, or even taking off his suit.
He just remembered getting to his workshop, Demon in tow, and with strong arms he closing the gap between them by grabbing he back of Sesshomaru's head and forcing his mouth on Sesshomaru's with a voracious hunger.
Their bodies crashed together, Sesshomaru shoving Tony against his lab table, jostling off junk.
Cautiously, as if testing icy waters, the object of Tony's obsession raked his claws lightly up Tony's back, placing the other at his jawline, where the curve met his ear and his neck. Tony's blood flooded both of his heads and he lost himself to the buzz. He reached around and grabbed that ass that he needed to take the pants off.
He was going to be in the driver's seat this time.
Tony ripped the hooded sweatshirt off him, causing his ponytail to thrash everywhere. He tugged out the hairtie holding the hair in place and hardened like an aircraft carrier seeing as he was supposed to be. Sharp gold eyes, silver hair everywhere, stripes up his ribcage and lips parted.
He ignored the welt on his chest from his repulsor. It was out of place, and ugly. It would heal.
"No more drug dealer hoodies, it just doesn't do you justice." Tony winked and Sesshomaru responded by with super-human speed shredding his own shirt off. Fair play.
'Sailor Moon will forget every letter except the ones that spell my name. He will tremble and worship me.' Tony wanted to punish the Demon Lord, but this time in a different, much more fun, rewarding way.
Tony quirked his mouth into a smirk against pale white skin and sucked his neck again. He tasted the dried blood and remembered that he would have to get him a replacement pair of 'hear aint's' before he left the workshop. But he didn't dwell on that long when he heard a sudden and almost whistling intake of air from the typically unemotional Demon.
It got his rocks hard just thinking only he could do this to him.
He peeled back, reveling in sight. He was everything he wasn't supposed to want. A pointy eared, arrogant, lethal, brittle shard of a life form that could regenerate limbs but couldn't handle a rock concert's decibel level.
This Demon could never bore him. This Demon provoked every dirty, taboo, and jarring thought into his mind and made his mouth water.
Tony shoved him up roughly against the wall of his workshop, tools clinking and clanging, charging his mouth to his. He felt the familiar tingle of his tongue and dove right in. He pressed his chest into Sesshomaru's, as if to press him through the wall, chaos theory put into practice.
Tony had a firm grip on his neck, thumb pressing down hard on the corner of the right side of his jaw, fingers digging in on the left. He wanted Sesshomaru to be the white-hot, jittery mess he made him earlier. He was Tony Stark and no one did that to him.
He bit down hard on his full bottom lip, sucking it like he had to siphon gas from a car. He tasted the familiar metal tang he tasted the night before. Suddenly exhilarated he, with a very practiced hand, unbuttoned Sesshomaru's white pants, shoving them down to his knees, then falling to his ankles. He wasn't wearing anything at all underneath, and that made Tony's insides liquefy into lava knowing he was just a thin layer of fabric away from that this whole time.
'Going commando for the press conference, unexpected. Deliberately getting shot and going commando while wearing white pants, that's fucking bold. I can never guess what he is going to do next.' Snowflakes darted through Tony's bloodstream.
"I'm going to ruin you." Tony breathed into his ear, before taking it into his mouth, running his tongue along its pointed edge, getting a soft gasp from Sesshomaru. He raked his teeth down its pointed shell as he reached down and grabbed his hard cock, taking a rough, strong cup of his balls and working them like beanbags.
Tony heard a growl and he immediately sealed his mouth over his, he wasn't just allowed to make noises like that. He plunged his tongue, thrashing it, deep stifling any other noise he could make, ignoring the grazing fangs and his coiling tongue.
He took his hand from applying pressure to the sides his neck to his own pants, removing, dropping, then kicking them off. His own dick hard as concrete, tenting his silk boxers, he removed those too, his cock already leaking and wet.
Tony broke apart the kiss, glaring into Sesshomaru's eyes, pupils dilated and lips swollen and red. He grabbed the sides of his head, fingers trapping his ears and pushed him to his knees.
Finally, the Demon Lord knelt before him. His groin twitched and pulsed in anticipation. He would get to have that intoxicating mouth around him again. He would get to have those gold eyes molten in lust just for him.
"Oh yeah, you know what I want." Tony gazed down and Sesshomaru wasted no time in taking his soft, smooth hand to wrap it around Tony's lower back. He massaged and released the tension there better than any highly paid 'masseuse' Tony had. His knees turned into jelly, Sailor Moon's hands could turn steel to bread dough.
Sesshomaru then took his tongue and flicked the tip, as if removing the fluid there before taking Tony's awaiting cock in his hand, pumping to the tip as he licked his lips, sealed around his head and Tony moaned deep when he felt the inhuman suction and humid heat.
Oh, damn he missed this. He really needed him. Want. Not need. He reminded himself.
Sesshomaru began to bob back and forth with chaotic speeds while his fingers met his mouth at the base, lassoing it tight. That stupid movie American Pie was right on the money. Sesshomaru's mouth: all rich, tartly sweet, and tingly cinnamon apple pie.
He could have him every day. He would have his wet, hungry mouth all over him, licking him clean, sucking the decay of his poor life choices out of him. Something shifted within Tony, something deep down loosened and released.
Oh damn not yet. Not before I-
His thoughts short circuited when Sesshomaru's hand sneaked like water between his legs and began to knead his taint with unholy pressure while upping the tempo on his cock. He went go to his toes and he threw his head back, examining the ceiling, panting like a dog in heat.
He rocked into Sesshomaru, throwing his own rhythm into the exchange and immediately smiled in the realization that Sesshomaru met his pace with a flourish of a long tongue.
"Yeah, take it." Is all Tony could manage as he pushed Sesshomaru deep on him. He wanted to feel the back of his throat with his sensitive tip. He wanted to feel Sesshomaru's long tongue lash out at the sensitive seam on the bottom of his dick, drawing shuddering waves out of him. He had to have Sesshomaru to suck the soul out of him, he craved it, more than his morning coffee, more than any scotch. More than anything else.
"Yes, God, just like that!" 'That sneaky hand again, that pressure, damn, I I I…'
'Damn, he makes me feel…inhuman.' Tony bit his lip, he was about to blow, but he wasn't done with Sailor Moon yet. He rocked out of his mouth, pulling him back up and attacking his lips again, tasting himself on his lips, in his mouth, and on his tongue. He ran his hand through his long hair on the back of his hair and the other hand down on Sesshomaru's hard, wet dick, teasing it with little strokes and fingers on the tip, swirling circles on it.
He heard Sesshomaru whimper slightly, he didn't think it was entirely audible but he knew exactly what it was. He, Tony Stark made a Demon Lord whimper. He was the champ. He pulled him out of his kiss, looking him right in the eyes.
"You're mine." With a gliding hand he swept the worktable free of the screws, random bits, and pushed that outfit of his to the corner of the table. Sesshomaru had to know what was coming next. Tony fumbled in a lust fueled heady passion for the lube.
'This is all I wanted, all day, was just to get this. This horrible shitty day. I called it at disaster, I just didn't think Sailor Moon here would have been actively behind almost all of it.' Tony, try as he might, tried to reignite the initial betrayal, the incendiary anger, the sandpaper grinding in his chest, but it didn't quite work. It tasted a little stale.
He'd fix that. He looked Sesshomaru directly in his gold eyes, slit pupils wide and slid his hands down from his tangled silver hair to his shoulders and with a shove bent him over the table, face down.
His hair fanned out to his sides and the bandage he had on his back had fallen off somewhere. He spotted the gnarled scar tissue on his back from the exit wound, like a knot on a strong tree they interrupted his otherwise flawless, magenta striped back. Tony didn't want to look at it. It didn't make any sense; it didn't belong there. He doubted the scar would stay, but it didn't matter. This isn't what he envisioned. It was ugly. He didn't do ugly. He took a large handful of his hair, noting dried blood still clung to it and covered his back with his hair.
"Now this is right." Tony lubed up his fingers and he slowly slid his hand over the left cheek of his ass. An ass, which magenta stripes almost reached, that would soon be his. He slid his other lubed hand down to Sesshomaru's length, pointing straight down to the floor and began to stroke up and down, feeling it throb at his touch.
Sesshomaru moaned and started to relax as he scissored his fingers deep inside him, every so often brushing past his prostate, achieving a hiss of a breath against fangs. Sesshomaru, propped up on his elbows low, closed his eyes, crimson covering gold as his blue youki trickled out.
It covered the floor as if he was standing in three inches of shimmering water. He added a third finger and he loosened. Sesshomaru had to want it bad.
Tony's cock twitched up and he something almost gurgled deep in his groin. He had to put it in soon. He slapped his wet cock down on the crack of Sesshomaru's ass and he saw his legs spread in reaction.
'Christ. This is mine, this is happening.' Tony smiled wide in anticipation as he slowly slid his fingers out and lubed up his cock with another quick squirt. He put his head right at his lax entry, he had to tease him before he let him have it, before he showed this Demon Lord just what Tony Stark was all about. He slowly slid in his twitching cock and it was like lightning. His whole cock tingled, it had to be the youki.
"Oh yessss!" Tony gasped and moaned as he pushed full tilt into him. The muscles around his cock tightened. Damn, he is better than that one yoga chick who like invented kegels. He jaw unhinged and he went practically cross-eyed as his base hit his ass cheeks.
He bucked his hips back for another hard pound inward. Sesshomaru's talons scratched the metal worktable like in a horror movie. The next time he would do this; he would have to tie him up to not shred anything. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw the little droplets of glittering youki bounce and splash.
He reached around and wrangled Sesshomaru's dripping cock and began to twist and pump and he continued to fist his long hair to cover the scar. 'He is…damn everything I want. I want to own him completely. I need him to be mine. I want to…He is lava hot, he is velvet smooth, he is vice tight. He has to stay.' Tony would do almost anything to make him stay.
Tony's body bucked, tightened, flooded and then heightened to a youki fueled high. Within Sesshomaru, his groin warmed and prickled. He drank in Demon Lord before him, hair fanned, eyes closed, jaw loose. His bangs brushing against the table, breath fogging it, lips painted a forbidden shade of red, ass trembling.
He increased the pace which caused Sesshomaru's eyes to shoot wide open. Tony angled his hips to hit Sesshomaru's prostate, he wanted to hear the Demon Lord say his name. Spell it. Write it in cursive with his tongue on his lab table, on his chest. The Demon beneath him quivered and inhale, he must have found that spot.
"Oh gods, say my name." He rocked back and thrusted sharply forward again to hit it and was rewarded with a yip. He increased his irregular pace on his strokes on Sesshomaru's own erection.
He let the hair go and slapped the ass in front of him with a solid smack, leaving the hand there. He heard a bark and Sesshomaru's erection flicked, surged and dripped wet.
"Stark!" With that one syllable Tony's chest bloomed in euphoria, like when found the replacement for palladium. He just made this Demon Lord say his name, the powerful Lord of the West bent over his lab table, legs wide. His insides fluttered, he was so close.
"Yes!" He felt the warmth pool deep in his base, and with his jaw lax and one final, leg softening pound he let loose everything he had deep inside the flipped over Demon Lord. He only needed to give one last fondle and pump before Sesshomaru too spilled onto the blue glimmering floor with a low growl. Slowly he withdrew from the Demon Lord, feeling great. Sesshomaru slowly rose and straightened, as he flopped into his chair, feeling bone softening satisfied and spent.
'Oh man, he looks like a statue, like someone carved him, made him to be some Tony Stark Siren.' Tony, coming down off his frenzied high then noticed something peculiar.
'Didn't his youki swirl yesterday? Why is it just bouncing on the floor, like…rain off of metal? Wait.' Tony then looked to Sesshomaru, whose expression remained completely blank, as if he had just gone for a walk. Tony's gut sank and a cold wash of dread drilled deep in him, tearing him open.
'I never saw him smile, never saw any hint of it.' Tony's elation left him, his chest now ice cold.
'Wasn't that the original goal? The whole point of all of this? I've never used people. It's not about to start now. Not with him. Not with this insane creature that upended my life and made my skin tingle like it had never been alive before. Not this prissy Demon who sends me into orbit, teetering on a razorblade. Not this asshole who risked everything, including me practically sending his best friend to SHIELD Azkaban, just to honor the rule in my house. Yeah, he fucked up, but so have I.' Tony's throat closed with failure as Sesshomaru wordlessly gathered his clothes.
'He didn't even say one word except my name. I'll return the favor.' Tony clenched his fists in determination, he couldn't let him go. Not ever, not ever like this.
"Not so fast Sesshomaru." Tony found his voice as he saw Sesshomaru's ears prick up and he straightened from picking up his pants. His swollen lips, again parted slightly, those two soft anomalies on his otherwise crystal sharp face. His eyes glittered in the soft blue of the floor.
"…do you not consider my debt paid?" Sesshomaru asked blandly but Tony had never heard that uneven edge to his voice before, like he had just eaten spicy Mexican. Tony didn't want to play the question game anymore if it got him questions like these. Before even Tony knew what he was doing, he shot out of his chair, closed the gap and planted a sloppy kiss on the unsuspecting Demon Lord. It was all desperation, because he got the side of his mouth out of haste. Sesshomaru didn't respond, except dropping his pants.
"I didn't mean it like that, and you know that's not what...this is. I know your youki, I just created a damn proximity barrier with it. I can tell when you're hot and bothered and when you're just damn bothered so sit down you sulky princess and prepare for another go." Tony tossed his head towards the chair and Sesshomaru's pupils sliced over to the youki on the floor. It was the very first time Sesshomaru ever left eye contact first.
"I don't leave unsatisfied lovers, especially someone like you. That definitely is a legacy I won't leave behind so I am personally going to blow your mind, maybe even a few times. Tony Stark special." He witnessed Sesshomaru's eyes widen, like he had no idea what he was talking about. He pulled him close, pulled him into him, biting, sucking, prowling, taunting. The Demon writhed a bit underneath him, talons grazed his back and a warm hand met the back of his head.
Tony's mouth glowed blue, and he grinned into the kiss as he the youki coursed through his veins like an avalanche. Tony, now hyper aware of his body, realized his dick now stood at attention like a bayonet. Sesshomaru's eyes glinted in hidden glee, and Tony grabbed his slim, muscled shoulders and spun him, planting him in the chair behind him.
He leaned over and grabbed his pointed chin and tilted it up, capturing him again.
"I'm going to fuck you so good you'll howl." Tony grinned and Sesshomaru's ears pricked up again. Tony reached back for the lube and instantly it was taken from him. He could get used to that, he hated being given things, so having someone like to take things off his hands was a welcome change of pace.
"…prove it." Sesshomaru's pupils dilated and his irises glowed, Was that another taunt? He stood over Sesshomaru, legs straddling him, Sesshomaru's hands slid up his legs like good silk. He gasped and shuddered at the simple caress on his tender inner thighs. How could the same hands, that decapitated an alien, cause him such a head rush?
Tony spasmed when the blunted tip of his talon and a tantalizing fingertip brushed a very private area. It previewed small hint of what was going to happen. Tony's lower body electrified in anticipation of something he didn't know he wanted. Tony never thought he would enjoy, let alone look forward catching, but Sesshomaru was an unintended exception.
Sesshomaru leaned forward sliding his index and middle finger deep inside him, while capturing the base of Tony's throat in what he could tell was some sort of biting, gnawing, grazing action. The fangs dragging on his throat with his tongue darting between them made his flight instincts redline like the tachometer in his Audi R8.
Tony's thoughts scrambled when Sesshomaru stuck another finger in, curving in towards his prostate, prodding it and Tony nearly came just then, eyebrows shooting up, mouth agape.
'Hold it together Tony, just start listing the elements, don't look at drop dead gorgeous Demon Lord you're about to practically impale yourself on…Hydrogen, Helium, Lithium…god he looks good for someone who got shot three times with poisoned bullets from a M24. Beryllium, Boron.'
"You're unreal, God you're…" Tony's breathless voice hitched as the fingers left him and he slowly, slowly, lowered down onto the Demon. No one could accuse Sesshomaru of compensating for anything with that Backstreet Boy sword of his, the guy could hit a ball off a tee with it. Damn another baseball reference. Tony's lips were surprisingly caught again by Sesshomaru's and another node of Youki turned his mouth blue, just like his arc reactor. Tony felt the initial pain and discomfort ebb.
"I'm something," Sesshomaru's mouth opened but no sound came out as Tony adjusted "else entirely." Sesshomaru, finally to Tony's smug satisfaction, quirked a corner of his mouth up slightly along with his ears. The shimmering youki on the floor rose like a tide, and playfully twirled and flitted around them.
"No shit. You're my anomaly. Now, I'm gonna prove it." That was it. That's what he was. He was his anomaly. Sesshomaru's eyes widened and he blinked. He didn't see that coming.
Tony grabbed the lever on the chair, lowering it to gain more leverage as he began to ride Sesshomaru. Hard. Sesshomaru yelped showing his fangs which just made Tony go even harder and cry out himself.
Their skin slapped and he heard Sesshomaru growl, chest rumbling against him which made Tony tangled himself in him, pressing his own erection against him. Tony smirked against the kiss, enjoying that he could fuck him hard at his own pace. Rough was fun, Rough with a Demon Lord: sensational.
Round two was shaping up well. Real well.
Tony smiled, it coming naturally as he slammed down and rocked up. It was then, after they kissed again that Tony saw that the welt from the repulsor on Sesshomaru's chest had vanished, his skin now alabaster and smooth. He touched his chest on reflex where the wounds had been. Sesshomaru, in response, began to pump on Tony's cock with hands slick.
"I will not die here." Tony jumped and Sesshomaru looked up through his eyelashes at him. The sentence caught Tony completely off guard, he paused mid descent, then decided to rise up again. Sesshomaru's hands shot to his hips, claws prickling his skin, helped power him up. Oh, he liked that.
"You're a mood killer gorgeous, we gotta work on your dirty talk." Tony responded wryly and Sesshomaru went back to pumping Tony's erection, forcing a guttural moan from Tony. Sesshomaru squirmed and his markings turned red. The youki started to explode around him like water bombs.
Tony savored being the one to bring Sesshomaru to such a raw peak. Sesshomaru trembled deep inside him and a warm, tight sensation filling him. Sesshomaru threw his head back, both of them aglow in blue, mouth that perfect oval Tony liked so much. He barked, or said Stark. One of the two, Tony couldn't be sure.
It didn't matter because Tony would deny it to anyone who asked, especially Bruce. But when Sesshomaru opened his eyes again, and he saw that small smile, a faint upward tilt of his lips, he didn't want to be with anyone else. He found that his own flushed cheeks rose into his eyes he came, and came hard all over the both of them, body bucking, throat garbling together incomprehensible syllables.
This stupid Demon was making him sentimental. Him! Tony Stark!
"Let's shower. I'll help you fix your hair; I know how vain you are." Tony winked, kissing him quick on his lips. Sesshomaru flicked his striped wrist and the youki as well as the mess they made disappeared in a swirl.
'Wait crap, did we just have make-up sex? I can't even remember if I have even had make up sex before.' Tony got up, pulse still racing. 'Shit. I don't have any idea what I'm doing.'
"I take pride in my appearance, no more than you." Sesshomaru rose, eyes glittering in humor. Tony noticed when his silver hair swished to the side, his back had healed just like his chest.
"There we go! That's what I like to see." Tony praised and Sesshomaru merely raised an eye brow.
"You have a positive effect on my youki. It allowed them to heal sooner than expected." Sesshomaru educated and Tony turned his thumb up and towards his chest.
"Well of course. Your youki merely recognizes my brilliance, my stunning good looks, and how amazing I am in bed." Tony gestured to all of him and he swore he saw Sesshomaru roll his eyes.
"We have never coupled in your bed." Sesshomaru pointed out as they together put on their clothes. Well, what was left of them.
"Oh, you'll be introduced. I'll tie you down to the damn thing. You'll never leave it if I have any say so." Tony laughed and Sesshomaru's gaze narrowed as if attempting to discern if he was serious or not. He then just unspooled his whip and tied Tony's wrists together, flashing a fang.
"Bruce told me you could control your toxin, and I so called the bdsm thing day one. Oh, grab those extra hear ain'ts." Tony grabbed part of the whip examining it to try to see what it was made of, its tensile strength, flexibility. It was oddly smooth and had almost gel like texture. Before he knew it, the Demon Lord led him to his own shower.
"Did you just bind me and lead me to my own bathroom like a petting zoo llama?" Tony looked at Sesshomaru in disbelief and he merely flicked his wrist and the whip now pinned his arms to his sides.
"Ok. I'm oddly turned on, but I need my arms to shower, and I definitely need a shower after fucking you into my lab chair." Tony struggled against the glowing whip and it instantly vanished, Sesshomaru now nude, turned on the shower.
"I figured you for a bath guy, seeing as they didn't even have showers in your time, or like plumbing." Tony commented as his throat went dry watching Sesshomaru step under the stream, water running down his toned body in streams.
"I recall my past scry attempts when in still water." Sesshomaru explained shortly and Tony took off his shirt and pants and scrunched his face in confusion.
"What happens when you scry?" Tony boldly asked knowing how well the last time he spoke about his scrying went that night.
"My senses meld into one all-encompassing awareness. I drowned by many hands and become one with a great pool of Demon blood. I am then led to the Astral Plane by Bakusaiga. Tenseiga also assists." Tony had no idea what to do with that statement. He joined Sesshomaru, and true to his word, helped Sesshomaru shampoo hair as which was as long as he was tall.
"…Yeah, can't say I've been there. That explains your coagulated blood acid reflux on my roof. You haven't scryed it again since, well you know, right?" Tony asked cautiously, he asked Sesshomaru not to do it again at the bar the night before Loki left. Sesshomaru never promised him no.
"No. I must obtain an item my mother has in her possession. I will converse with her soon." Sesshomaru admitted, grabbing the soap and in return began to gingerly caress Tony with it.
"Your mother? She's alive?" Tony nearly slipped he was so shocked. She was alive and he is now just talking about her? He had almost gotten all the blood out of Sesshomaru's hair. He surprisingly enjoyed having Sesshomaru wash him.
'Oh wait. Is this…is this our pillow talk? Damnit. How did I let this happen? ''Operation: I swear he is just a fling', just officially self-destructed. We have gone way past that, I'm helping wash his hair and it was even my idea! I'll just have to convince him to stay. Maybe I can bribe Loki with lime sherbet to break the Bifrost over Odin's head to keep him here or something.' Tony chuckled at his own joke.
"Not in this time. Bakusaiga says she seeks me; we will discuss our business in her tomb." Tony had no idea what to do with that statement either. He began to understand how Sesshomaru must feel whenever they talk about anything to do with the modern era.
"Loki said your mom wasn't around much. I can relate, my father was pretty absent, never congratulated me on anything, always in his shadow, trying to live up to his crazy expectations, continue his legacy. It wasn't until way after he died did I even think he cared about me, or liked me. My mom tried her best, but she was always distant, the parenting thing wasn't really her deal." Tony found the words pouring out of his mouth before he knew what happened. He hadn't meant to make the conversation about him. Sesshomaru turned to him and tilted his head.
"…My mother rules…ruled her own sky kingdom…My father and mother mated for breeding purposes only. I was created out of a bargain, for the sole purpose of perfection. My father intended for me to unite and rule the four lands…nothing short of a successful conquest was acceptable. It is how I met Loki and Storm God. My father…believed me slow and…disfavored, he sought to…enhance my faculties by studying with them." Sesshomaru spoke slowly, and quietly, and Tony the awkward pauses indicated to Tony he probably didn't tell anyone about this, maybe not even Loki.
'Christ. Created? Well that explains his name. No pressure there, mom and dad.' Tony shampooed his own hair, finally done rinsing the suds from Sesshomaru's
"Your father sounds like the slow one. You're the fastest thing I've ever seen, and I'm not just talking about your gymnastics and 400-meter dash time. You're in a totally new space-time and within a week helped save the planet, bartered for ice cream, and bought Armani. You're every bit as bright as Loki, and hell evenly matched against Thor in a fight, he got in that first cheap shot with Mjolnir against you, I'll have Nat get him for that. And disfavored? You already know we all like you. Nirvana is playing on like every radio station, and half of New York left a bunch of flowers and bullshit outside my tower. Weird, pompous, and an asshole, yes. But slow and disfavored? Hell no. I would know; I am the stubborn, narcissistic, public icon you're fucking after all." Sesshomaru's eyes glowed and ears pricked up even with the water hitting them, his skin glistening, wet and enticing. Tony wanted to have him again, but he was too spent. He for once decided sleep was a good option.
"And at some point, you're going to have to tell me where you got that money. If you say you're working a corner I'm gonna have to get tested." Tony added and Sesshomaru recovered, resuming his typical neutral expression, finishing washing his own body, Tony ran his hand over the stripes that curved down his back, almost coming to a V shape on his back before flaring out the sides and ending near his pecs and sides.
"This Sesshomaru made a business arrangement with Polly and exchanged wares with a large, foul human." Sesshomaru explained, turning off the water, Tony's fingers still on his markings.
"I'm gonna have to meet Polly. So not cool Bruce met her first, he showed me the photo you guys took. He told me you call us all by which flavor of ice cream we like. God you're weird." Tony reached for a towel but a burst of youki dried them both before he could grab it. Sesshomaru turned, expression unreadable.
"…I refuse to change my behaviors to suit your human normalcy." Sesshomaru's voice sounded dark and foreboding and Tony fought a peel of laughter, which was the exact opposite of the reaction he wanted to convey to Sesshomaru. They went into his bedroom together. Together!
"Well, you're in good company The Avengers are about the most abnormal group you'll ever find, and I definitely am the forerunner in the atypical department." Tony gestured to all of him as he flopped into bed. He knew why Sesshomaru said that particular statement but didn't feel like going there. Sesshomaru didn't say anything as he sat on bed moving the pillows aside and sliding up so his back rested against the head board.
"This Sesshomaru requires some rest." Tony looked up to the Demon Lord sitting on his bed, back against his head board. It was odd and distracting.
"Um, ok you know you lay down on beds, right?" Tony brought the sheets up to his hips, looking over at the Demon Lord who looked down on him, quite literally. Sesshomaru didn't look much like a cuddler, and that was fine by Tony because he didn't super enjoy it much either.
'He must think I am going to like, cling to him or something.' Tony waited for Sesshomaru's response.
"This Sesshomaru does not lie down." That got Tony's attention.
"What? What kind of statement is that?" Tony propped himself up, completely flabbergasted.
"…I was instructed at a young age that one must always be ready, even when resting." Tony laughed despite himself and sunk back down. Oh god, they were both so fucked up! His parents literally told him he couldn't lie down or something will kill him. Come to think of it, it did look really unnatural when Tony put him on the floor in the storage room, Jaken did move him.
"How bout that, your parents really did a number on you Sailor Moon." Tony was still laughing, and Sesshomaru's eyebrows furrowed together slightly. "I can't sleep with you like, sitting there like that, It's too weird. We got your barrier and Jarvis, I think you can rest easy." Sesshomaru, instead, rose, spotting an overstuffed armchair in the corner of the room. Tony knew he wasn't really leaving, but he found it really annoying that instead of trying to lay down he just went for the chair. Stubborn ass.
"You can put those sweatpants on if you want." Tony suggested instead of getting annoyed, they were red after all. They were the same ones he tried to pull on the night that Loki dropped in as his special guest. Sesshomaru eyed them, putting them on. They were way too short, showing the stripes on Sesshomaru's ankles.
"Why do you have so many damn stripes?" Tony murmured, more to himself, not expecting an answer. He was too damn tired.
"…I favor my mother's bloodline." Came Sesshomaru's eventual reply, and right after it Tony fell asleep.
Oh shit, there is some nasty fucking water in my lungs; I can't breathe underwater! Someone is holding me here… and what the fuck language were they speaking this time?! Goddamn this fucking car battery! What the fuck is this all about?! I can't even breathe! Sesshomaru?
I can't do it. I won't. Fuck this. Fuck you, I'm Tony Stark!
I have to get out! Where am I? Pepper! Rhodes! The fucking funvee!
I can't move…damn. And his bald fat face?! Obediah! Fuck that guy!
I can't move my legs. I can't move my legs! I can't breathe. I can't believe that fucker Obediah. I have to get out.
The m24 sniper rifle fits a 7.62x51mm NATO cartridge, it has a 5-round internal magazine. Blitzen is the last reindeer. Sirius. Cerberus. Operation: Ultron. Astral Plane. Demon Lord. Why is there blood on the stage?! Goddamnit Steve your stupid face is stupid heavy.
Pepper give me the case!
I have to save Yinsen! His family, they're dead. He can't just run away and leave me stuck in this thing. There isn't enough ammo in that m24 carbine for a stand. Don't you hurt Pepper, she is the only family I have! I have to get out of this nasty fucking water.
WHERE IS MY SUIT?! JARVIS. I can't move my legs; I'm falling and I still need to stop Vanko! Son of a Bitch, I hate Justin Hammer! Space is awful! I can't move, Pepper isn't answering! Why does he have so many stripes?! What does true form mean?!
What the fuck is that blue light?!
You can't take him, this isn't his fight. He was dragged into this by Loki and he's stuck here. You aren't taking him from me. You can't take me either!
Blood and silver. White, Red, and Gold.
Tony shot up from his bed like he was spring-loaded. His body blazed out in a cold sweat, but he was burning up. His lungs didn't work, his chest clamped and he smacked his arc reactor three times. Ok it was still there. No car battery.
The twisted sheet tangled around his legs, binding them. That explained the leg thing. Tony immediately pulled his still tangled legs to his chest, eyes unfocused. His skin sticky in sweat even made the silk sheets tacky.
"Ok. Cool. Ok. I'm in the tower. In my fucking tower. This is my tower. Ok. Good. Not Ok. I need my phone. What is the date?! Oh god. Pepper!" Tony chanced a stiff look to his bedside table, spotting his phone. Could he reach it? Yeah. Ok. Tony didn't reach for the phone. Too intimidating. Could he ask Jarvis for the date? Would he answer? Yeah, he would. Tony didn't ask. Tony couldn't decompress, everything closed in on him. He had to move, but no. It's not safe.
"Fuck this is…Fuck. Just fuck. OK. It's not Ok. Ok." Tony's thoughts blended and constricted, he couldn't move, he wouldn't. Could he scratch his hair? No, don't fucking chance it. Fucking Obediah. Fucking space. Fucking Afghanistan. Fucking sheets!
'Fuck. I got this. This is my tower. My rules. Jarvis would alarm if something was wrong. I can't believe SHIELD hacked Jarvis. Merlin? Blue Duck? what the blue fuck is that?!. Oh shit. Jarvis. What if he is against me too? That stupid barrier would tell Sesshomaru something though. Shit. Wait, Sesshomaru.' Tony looked up jerkily, curled in the chair like a gargoyle, gold eyes glowing, sat Sesshomaru. Tony's thoughts froze then recoiled.
Sesshomaru simply watched him.
Pause.
"Say something!" Tony yelled. He couldn't just sit there and watch him wearing his fucking sweatpants in his chair! That was his stuff; this was his room! Who the hell let him in?!
"…it is 17th day of your solar month of April, of your human year 2015." Sesshomaru's deep voice held barely above a murmur. Why did he just tell him the date?! Human year?! Really?!
"Say something else." Tony didn't really demand, his voice got choaked up. Sesshomaru's eyes never left him.
"…Once Loki and I challenged two phoenix Demons to duels. I won mine. The Demoness Loki fought called him Kiki. Loki became distracted allowing her a victory. They would encounter each other again and couple before she torched many of his possessions and left him." Tony rubbed his face. OK. He could rub his face. This was progress. He went to move his left leg, ok. Slowly. Yes. Ok now the right. Ok. Good. This was good. Whew, nothing bad happened.
"Kiki. Huh. I need to…Why did you tell me that?!" He didn't care about his stupid story, or his stupid treasure quests with Reindeer Games. Tony's chest cracked open, relieving the pressure. Oh, he wasn't shaking anymore. That was fast.
"…" Sesshomaru didn't answer and Tony didn't need him to. God this was so not badass.
'I had been doing so great too. I haven't had an attack for months. This is his fault.' Tony's eyes hardened at the dark Demon Lord in the corner. 'Stupid shooting. Stupid Demon Lord, this was all such a stupid fucking idea!' Tony felt a frustration boil in him as he glared over to Sesshomaru who still hadn't moved.
'This is too fucking close. He is too fucking close. I can't handle this. He is just going to leave, just like Yinsen. They bled the same damn color, even both their families are dead.' Tony's mind percolated with vindication.
"Get. Out." Tony's voice sounded like two bullets clipping. Sesshomaru simply stood, and completely vanished, as if he could also teleport. Tony sighed, he couldn't tell if he felt better or not. He grabbed his phone, it was 3:49am. He knew that time meant something, and the date meant something too, but he couldn't remember what.
He knew sleep would evade him. Eventually he called out to Jarvis.
"Jarvis bring up the past days' worth of conversations with Sesshomaru and Loki." Jarvis brought them up, first one being the one that occurred most recently: the one with Bruce, Natasha, and Loki explaining 'Operation: Sesshoki down'.
The only thing that stood out was the sentence Sesshomaru said: "He viewed it as a casual diversion. There was no sharing of quarters." Tony's tired mind spun. So, Sailor Moon saw what they had as just a fling too huh?
Jarvis showed the second conversation, before he and Sesshomaru had got hot and heavy in the Quinjet. and this one caused a coil of anger at Sesshomaru's words: "This Sesshomaru intends to seek no mate from this time.", "Perhaps I will turn my attentions to a certain Archer...slake his own earthly tastes.", "This is an exploratory coupling only," Tony felt his chest hitch, exploratory coupling? Was he just a practice guy for Clint? Was he really intent on leaving this time to go back to his own? He could be having an 'exploratory coupling' with Clint too…
'I'm a moron, I am getting so played, he is probably fucking Clint right now, or wants too. Fuck.' Exhausted, Tony took a couple Ambien finally fell back into a fitful sleep.
Yikes! So Sorry to my faithful reviewer and favoriters (is that a word?) and followers for the delay! I made this one extra long for you guys! Poor Tony. Right when things start to go right for him, they just deviate don't they?!
Thank you for all your wonderful reviews and comments! :) They mean the world to me. Let me know how you liked this juggernaut of a chapter!
-TL