No-One But You (The Star Child's Eclipse)
Chapter 14: Soldier Boy (Part 4)
…
Tony Stark breezed his way to the fancy elevator, and he made himself at home against the wall that was on the opposite side of the door.
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Steve Rogers naturally followed, and he took notice of Tony's icy demeanor. His body language was definitely standoffish, and the blonde thought over how to remedy that.
…
His feisty date behaved that way anytime Ezekiel Stane made an appearance…
Tony's salty attitude toward the "prince of darkness" didn't go unnoticed at all, but Steve absolutely REFUSED to treat Ezekiel any different. He treated him like a human being, and that was it.
The elevator doors closed behind the patient blonde, and he just stared at his date. Tony didn't plan to say a friggen word while they were in that damn building, and he briefly wondered why his father didn't buy the entire thing….
Why THE FUCK was he blindly walking around in Stane territory? Tony was beyond annoyed with himself after he figured that out. His arms were all crossed up too, and Steve Rogers drew in a deep, deep, deeeeeeep breath.
…
"Are we walking home?"
…
It certainly seemed like they were walking all the way back to Brooklyn. The two of them could have been home in an instant, with a portal, but obviously the little red corvette needed to blow off some steam.
Steve arched a brow up sharp after Tony kept his mouth closed. He didn't friggen answer him, so the blonde sighed again and he gently cleared his throat.
OH, and there were a million bullshit floors for them to journey down, so of course the stupid elevator came to a slow stop.
Two friggen people entered the elevator, but Tony ignored them. The look on his face couldn't possibly get any icier, so Steve braced himself for whatever kind of storm was brewing around in Tony's head.
They were alone again after some time went by, and the brunette could tell that his adorable date was moving in. Steve was inching his way over toward Tony like a pro, but his date was clearly catching on…
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"You told me what you learned about Ezekiel, with the Mind Stone. So, does this have anything to do with … that?"
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Steve did his best to assess the situation, and he was trying to be careful about what he was bringing up. Anything involving Ezekiel Stane was a touchy subject with Tony, so the blonde was treading lightly.
He also didn't forget something that Stephen Strange told him. Back in the day, the clever sorcerer dropped a hint about what was actually bothering Tony…
…
While STEPHEN STRANGE was doing his usual swooping, he said: "You know, I can cure all of this by simply showing you one interaction between Tony and Obadiah Stane. There's just one piece to this that you've been overlooking… I can show you. Just say the word…"
…
Steve Rogers took the high road, and he politely declined what was offered. The would-be soldier boy happily declined, because he was patiently waiting for Tony to talk to him about it on his own.
He never spoke about Obadiah Stane, and the blonde remembered meeting him once… briefly. Obadiah was at the Stark mansion, Steve recalled the moment he saw him, and how Tony behaved…
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Obadiah was pronounced dead not too long after that. He made a dumb move and tried to sell Tony off to the highest bidder.
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Who was actually bidding on Tony? And, it turns out Ezekiel was supposed to be sold off for slaughter right along with him.
Those were just a few more details that Steve chose to ponder. His eyes never left his date as he thought it all over, and eventually they reached the bottom floor of the building….
Tony didn't really take his eyes off his date either, and the details he pondered were mainly about how adorable and sweet Steve was…
Yeah, he was pissed off at himself because he just waltzed into enemy territory, but that wasn't Steve's fault.
Tony didn't like giving Obadiah's psycho baby boy a ton of options, remember? And… again, the brunette was NEVER interested in stacking the odds in Ezekiel's favor.
The idea of not knowing that Ezekiel Stane owned that fucking nightclub bothered Tony to the max, so he needed to head home and start digging. He didn't plan to make that mistake ever again, so… that was basically why Tony started acting like a jerk.
…
He didn't want to bore Steve with the details, and he also didn't want to effing speak. Being in STANE territory just buggggeeddd Tony straight to the fucking core. UGH. He roughly rubbed his hands over his face.
They finally left the elevator, THANK GAWD, so Tony kept walking….
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"Wait. Tony, I…"
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Steve absolutely had to stop the two of them just as they stepped out of the building. He went with his gut for just a moment, and that means Steve Rogers gently took ahold of Tony's left hand.
The blonde stopped him from walking forward, and Tony snapped a sharp look down toward his wrist.
The fuck? He didn't expect to have his hand all snatched up like that, so Tony's shoulders tensed up a little. But, it was Steve… so, that icy reaction mellowed out just a little bit.
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"I want to understand what happened up there. You, you never want to talk about Ezekiel or… his father?"
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Oh, no no no no. Tony's face just iced up to the max. FUHHHCCCK THAT. There was no need to rehash any of that bullshit, for sure, so Tony just shook his head no a million times and he did his best to get moving.
Steve didn't need to get dragged through that drama, and Tony always figured he was sparing him from it. The Obadiah thing was ancient history, and the man had his friggen head caved in, so…
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"Well, did I upset you? I'm never really sure when it comes to… Ezekiel stuff."
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The blonde really needed clarity, and no he didn't let go of Tony's hand. Steve actually brought his hand over toward the front of his chest for a sec, and he started holding onto it with a bit more love and warmth.
He was practically hugging Tony's hand at that point, and Steve started acting all fluffy and cute about it too.
…
Uhm. Say what? Tony Stark was actually a huge sucker for that big… beautiful blonde, so he gave Steve a flustered grin.
Chapter: END
Thanks for reading.
NOTE: This chapter refers to something that took place in Lessons In Love: Chapter 96: Circles (Part 1)