Graduation came and went; pictures were taken, gifts exchanged, parties attended. Tony decided to take his lovers on a three week vacation before they all had to separate for higher learning, which he was truly beginning to resent right about now. Steve would be leaving for West Point in August, Loki and Tony to MIT in September.
He asked where they wanted to go; neither cared much as long as it was warm. Steve didn't have a passport just yet and he didn't really want to risk getting into trouble before his enlistment even started. Loki reminded him that he was with them so he was already in trouble. "That's trouble I can handle."
South Beach it was.
They spent most of the time lazing about on the sand or out on a boat where it was just the three of them. Even though they were having a great time and squeezing in as much sex as possible, as the days ticked by their moods became more somber. Especially Steve's. He was quieter than usual and slightly withdrawn when he thought no one was looking.
Which, of course, they were.
Tony found him sitting on the front of the boat with his legs dangling off the side. His sun kissed skin and blond hair made it appear that he spent all of his time at the beach. He watched as Steve's hand sketched furiously on the pad in his lap. Tony sat down behind him careful not to jostle him while he drew. Legs stretched on either side, he gently wrapped his arms around Steve's waist and rested his chin on his warm shoulder. He smelt of sunscreen.
Looking down at the drawing, "Where are you?" He asked quietly. The picture was of him and Loki. Last night? They were in bed talking. The blankets covering their nakedness, nothing more. Tony had his arm hooked around one knee, while Loki leaned back supporting himself on both arms. They sat close leaning in, facing each other in opposite directions. Their expressions were of love and adoration. He captured everything, even down to the three moles on the side of Loki's neck.
"I'm not in this one. I wanted to capture the moment, just the two of you. The men I fell in love with; the men who let me love them." Steve turned his head slightly to meet the gaze through Tony's blue tinted sunglasses. He removed them so he could look into Tony's eyes. He loved Tony's eyes as much as he loved Loki's. There was such a contrast between the two. They were a shade of brown he had never seen before. Clear, almost like a deep amber or cinnamon; intelligent, you could see a million thoughts running through his mind when looking into fathomless those eyes. And huge. Tony had huge doe eyes that were framed by thick long lashes. Steve smirked, "Women would kill for your lashes, Tony."
He batted them at him and Steve chuckled. "Why Steve, you flatterer. You are going to make me blush." They stared at each other a while longer. "Stop being so sentimental, Rogers. It's starting to rub off." He kissed his shoulder, then bit it lightly and kissed it again. Turning his head away, he rested it on Steve's tanned shoulder and tightened his grip around his waist letting his fingers play over his abdomen. After a few moments, Tony muttered, "You know Loki draws."
Steve paused. "No, I didn't. How did I not know this?" He felt this was important and was a little disappointed he didn't know this about his best friend.
"Not your fault. I kinda stumbled across some of his drawings when I was snooping through his room a few years back. He was pissed. His art is kind of like a journal for him. He's really good. Some of it was pretty dark. You know he was going through some things. It looked like he dabbles in a couple of different media types. If you asked him, he might show you. Although, I couldn't tell you the last time he did anything. He doesn't do it when he's with me."
"If it's private, I don't want to intrude on that. I know how it is; sometimes expressing yourself through art is easier than sharing your feelings with others."
Tony kissed his shoulder again and stood up. "Don't stay out here too long, Spangles. You'll get burnt and you know how the government feels about you damaging their property."
Neither one of them realized that they were indeed being drawn during their little exchange.
"Are you guys sure about this?"
"If I could only count the all the times you have said that phrase."
"Yeah it's kinda like every time Harrison Ford says, "I got a bad feeling about this", in every Star Wars and Indiana Jones."
"Yeah, but this is kind of permanent."
"Steve you don't have to do this, but Tony and I are."
"No, no. I said I would." Takes a deep breath. "So yeah, let's do this."
"Are you absolutely sure?"
"No, but I'm as sure as I'm gonna be."
The three of them walked into the 407 Tattoo parlor with an idea in mind. It was the last hoorah before they were to be separated. They had gotten a drunken wild hare up their asses when Loki suggested they get something to symbolize their relationship. They couldn't very well get married so that was out, and then Tony snapped his fingers and blurted out "tattoos". Steve laughed hysterically until he realized Tony was serious and Loki seemed like he was on board with the idea.
"Uh, guys—"
"Oh come on Steve. It will be great. That way no matter how far apart we are, we will always be together." Tony pleaded.
"We could get all three of our names together, but in some old language or script that no one knows anymore. It will be perfect." Loki chimed in. At Steve's doubtful expression, he continued. "And that way no one can question why you have the names of two men tattooed on you. I know what you're worried about, Steve."
Steve sighed. He actually liked the idea, but no matter what the new regulations was against or for homosexuality and the military. There would always be that stigma and distrust. Don't ask, don't tell—doesn't matter. 'You know what, it doesn't matter.' He won't be blatant about it, but he's not going to hide it either. "Yeah, ok. Let's do it."
So they did it. They decided to get them done in Old Norse. That was a dead language and unless they went to Iceland and got naked, they figured they would be ok. That and their names looked really cool in the lettering. Loki went first. His was done on his upper back; his name in the middle down his spine, Steve's on the left, Tony's on the right. The tattoo was done vertically about four to five inches in length. It stood out magnificently against Loki's pale skin.
Tony went next. His was placed on his left hip. All agreed the artwork would look better vertically after Steve had sketched out three different versions before settling on that one. Tony's was slightly smaller, by an inch or so because of the placement. His name in the middle, Loki's to the right, Steve's to the left. The tattooist glanced up at him occasionally as he wiped the excess ink away. "You know who I am?"
"Yeah man, everyone knows who you are Mr. Stark." The guy went back to work. Shouldn't have surprised him. There was a huge expose done on him after he graduated. The heir to the Stark Empire; next in line to take over Stark Industries blah, blah, blah. There were roughly four stories run on him since then. He really had no interest in them or SI at the moment. That was the future and it could wait.
"Mr. Stark is my father. I'm Tony." He held his hand out. The artist stopped and shook his hand. "I'll pay extra for your discretion."
Paul continued his work. "No need Tony. What happens in the shop is nobody's business. I've seen stranger shit than three dudes getting different variations of the same tattoo." That confirmed it; Paul just earned a fat ass tip. Tony smirked then hissed. "Hey, at least you didn't cry. I get grown ass men in here all the time that think they're tough shit, and then break at the first outline."
Tony laughed. "Well, you might get tears, yet. He's the sensitive one." Pointing to Steve.
The blond glared. "If you could make that hurt a little more, there's an extra hundred in it for you."
Steve got his on his right side. His name in the middle, Loki's to the left, Tony's to the right. And no, there were no tears. His was larger than the others because Paul thought it would look more badass. And it did. It was about five to six inches long, slightly wider and just looked like sex on his muscular torso.
"Damn, Steve…just, damn." Tony bit his lip as Loki loudly whispered, "I want to run my tongue over each letter." Steve blushed furiously. No one who ever met Steve would ever suspect the all American boy had a flare for walking on the other side of the fence or a hidden badass tattoo, and to Tony and Loki that only made him that more desirable.
The artist chuckled as he put salve on it and bandaged the artwork. "Well, if I didn't suspect before, that just confirmed it."
Steve gaped between the two. "Guys…"
"Relax dude, secrets safe with me."
Tony paid the man and said his feelings would be hurt if he didn't take the tip. Paul agreed only if he could get a pic with all three of them. They agreed and were assured again that no one would say shit about them being there.
The trio left the shop with their new ink in search of the nearest club. At the residual sting on his side, Steve said, "What was that you said about damaging government property?"