No-One But You (The Mystic Consultant) - Part 2
Chapter 17: Wide-Eyed, Wrapped in Love (Part 7)

Tony was still in the mood to define things as "perfect" while things wrapped up within the confines of the Stark Expo.

He said goodbye to his parents and he watched them leave after Natasha showed up. The widow said she was taking over Bucky's surveillance. Bucky fucking Barnes seemed a bit confused at first, but Tony watched him shrug it off.

He didn't shrug off Steve's offer to walk home tho. Tony listened to the two not-so-broke boys as they planned it all out. They decided to wait a while and let the crowd die down.

Tony was good with it. He was more concerned about getting some food. He worked himself up an appetite, but he also felt too lazy to say anything. His body was buzzing. Tony's adrenaline was still going haywire, but the mood around him was pretty tame. Steve and Bucky were talking about random things, but Tony felt used to it.

At that point, he had witnessed the two of them chat about random crap for centuries. Tony's mellow mood carried on as the three of them walked. Steve wasn't an oblivious person. He noticed shit like you wouldn't believe. He took note of Tony's quiet behavior, and he kept looking over at Bucky as they migrated toward the apartment complex.

Steve had some questions for his best friend, but he was holding onto them as if they were a set of playing cards. Bucky Barnes wasn't really digging the quiet and overly friendly mood around him. He was confused with Natasha's stunt, but he became even more confused to be walking around with a silent Tony Stark.

It was super weird, and Bucky couldn't help himself.

He kept looking at Steve's bambi-eyed lover when he could. Tony was shorter than the two of them, so Bucky didn't want to make it obvious. He was studying the "Tiger Striped Cat" and he questioned the motives behind him being so quiet.

"You do know that we learned something called telepathy when we trained with Stephen out there in Kathman-fucking du, don't cha?"

Tony finally spoke. He could hear all that SHIT swimming around within Bucky's pea-sized brain. Bucky didn't care to remember details like that, so he stopped abruptly when he listened to Tony. Telepathy? Good for you...

"That makes shit a whole lot easier for me. What's your problem anyway? Did you not get enough attention today?"

Bucky had to say it. Tony had the whole damn world listening to the Stark symphonic opera, or whatever the hell that was. Tony skipped a step for a moment and his eyes fired up just a tiny bit. Steve Rogers quickly bit his bottom lip, and he kept on walking. The blonde didn't intend to say a single word in that moment. His eyes inspected a couple shop windows as they walk around.

They were as "incognito" as they could get. Inwardly, Steve was waiting for Tony to snap something back in Bucky's direction. Steve refused to look at either of them, but he could feel Tony's temperature warming up. Surprisingly, Tony hadn't responded. Steve could tell that he wanted to say something, but the "cat" kept his cool.

Bucky, Steve and Tony reached the apartment complex. Just as a friendly reminder, they still operated as neighbors within that building. Tony closed his eyes and he rest his back against the elevator after he stepped in it. Steve stood close beside him, and Bucky operated the buttons. Bucky had a clear view of Tony's face once he pressed the button for their floor. Tony seemed calm and a bit distant.

It seemed like he was kind of, powering down? Or something? It didn't seem right. Bucky started thinking it had something to do with the Vishanti. Tony had some tiger-cat named Hoggoth in his soul. He was possessed by a tiger demon, or whatever.

"I can hear all that. Don't you get it yet?"

Tony spoke again, and Bucky Barnes only rolled his eyes. Steve gently closed his own eyes after Tony made his comment. There was a bit more force behind it, so Steve drew in a slow breath. Bucky's mind was very preoccupied with Tony's behavior. Knowing that amused Steve as well, but he still wasn't ready to act upon it.

Chapter: END

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