stardustly | au scenarios open post

While he wanted to believe Tony, he had a feeling someone knew or would find out. Things were never smooth sailing for them, especially with something so explosive. Dragons were a potential game changer and did others exist? Tony couldn't be the only one.

Warmth spread through him as he settled more against Tony, letting some of the tension seep from him. Tony would be able to handle anything coming their way and no one would be able to move through the weather.

"When's the first time you shifted?" Quiet for a moment, he added, "I won't say anything - kinda glad you're mythical now. It was really cold." More psychological than physical but still.

Edited 2018-01-01 22:14 (UTC)

Once it seemed like Steve was going to actually stay in place for a change, Tony unwound the arm he'd curled around him, though he dropped it down on the other side of Steve's body so that the man was tucked between his forearms. And pressed close enough that he could probably feel the low, considering rumble Tony gave in response to the question.

"Three or four, I think. I don't really remember it. Mom would take me flying sometimes." When they could get away from everyone, not a single prying eye. In retrospect, it seems obvious that Jarvis knew -- he'd always been there with him. But the man had been good at keeping his secrets.

"Glad I can be a useful space heater, though."

It made sense why Tony mourned the loss of his mother much deeper than that of his father. But Steve preferred to not think about Howard if he could help it because it hurt too much. The man became something darker than he ever anticipated and it seemed to have been partly his fault on top of that. Both because of the serum and from losing himself in the waves. Not that he would take any of it back or could when he knew the outcome. If he saved others, it didn't matter what happened to him.

"Is that why you built yourself a flying suit?" A light tease and not even a biting one for once. "Hey, can you breathe fire?" Okay, he might have a lot of questions. "Wonder if any of the team is hiding something like this." Were there other dragons around? It would be something to look into.

He waited patiently until it seemed like the flood of questions was done for the moment, then let out one of those rumbling almost-a-laugh sounds.

"I can," he agreed, though showing that off would probably be best left to a time when Steve wasn't quite so near his head. He'd wanted to warm the man up, not set him on fire. "And I don't know. Honestly I've never looked into it much." Because it might have depressed him, knowing he was one of so few? Or because he was worried he'd already been rejected for one reason or another? He'd just really never thought about it that much. It was one of the few parts of himself he'd managed to hide for so long, maybe the answer was just that he'd liked that.

"I mean, one of them is a god. I'm not sure how much weirder they can get."

Breathing fire sounded like a handy trick they should have found a way to make use of in the past. Then again, he would never want to put Tony at risk for capture or far worse by the hands of hydra or other crime organizations. The use of a dragon would be a game changer and much harder to eliminate than regular agents. Still, there had to be some use of a dragon for their world saving opportunities. "Maybe you can show me sometime," Steve murmured, tilting his head up to look rat Tony. Even with all the scales he could still see him, the one who always pushed him.

"Being - this must make you feel alone a lot too huh," he added after a few moments of silence, thinking about how the confession made him feel closer to Tony. He could relate in a way being a man out of time. "All I'm saying is there's something about Clint we should look into." Mostly a tease.

"Don't let me fall asleep."

One of Tony's wings twitched slightly, just enough to create a slight breeze before he forced it back down against his side. He'd never really considered loneliness, at least not where this was concerned. He had enough things that set him apart -- he was rich, he was a genius, he'd never really fit in anywhere. Being able to turn into a giant lizard was just something else to add to the list.

He tipped his head down to meet Steve's eyes before his face creased into something that might have been a draconic attempt at a smile.

"You can, you know," he said a little more softly. "You probably still need to heal up, conserve strength. I can keep watch for a while."

Stubbornness only played a small factor in Steve's insistence on not wanting to sleep, the bigger reason being the nightmares he tended to endure and the flashbacks. He really needed to deal with all of it but kept pushing it down instead. One day he would slow down but not anytime soon. "I think you've done enough for one night," Steve insisted, the lingering feel of the waves crashing along his subconscious. No. Absolutely not. But it pressed along his chest, blackness seeping along the edges of his vision.

"You rest and I'll keep watch. Hopefully, the storm will be over in the morning. We have agents to ttrack." Before they handed off whatever they managed to steal.

"Can you fix anything on the suit here?"

"Then we can both keep watch." Like it was any surprise that Tony could be just as stubborn, and he hadn't even gotten dunked. Well, not accidentally, anyway.

At the reminder, he swung his head back over his shoulder to glance at the pile armor sitting abandoned in the corner. "Don't think so," he said after a regretful moment. "If there are shorts in the wiring, I don't have the tools to fix it here. And I don't exactly have as good dexterity like this." He flexed one huge, clawed hand like it was exhibit a.

He was quiet again as he shifted his head back to settle it onto his forearm, one blue eye moving to fix on Steve. "I can still fly us out if we can't get a hold of anyone."

Even in dragon form, Tony just so happened to be the most stubborn person he had ever met. Letting out a slow exhale, he tilted his head back against Tony, the heat blasting through the worst of the chill but the whispers of the ice continued to surge through his veins. The memories never really left him and in the silence they positively screamed. "The team will notice soon that we haven't gotten back." But they might not have a way to track them, especially in the storm. It left them vulnerable but hydra wouldn't be able to do anything either until things let up, which made him want to brave the elements more.

"Tony, you can't fly us out like this. Someone would be bound to notice a dragon and I know you don't want that press conference," he responded, eyes opening to look at Tony. "I'm fine, you know." One of the biggest lies he ever told but he wore the words well, allowed them to become another kind of shield to place in front of himself.

"Worse comes to worse, we can punch ourselves out." He paused. "Do you know what it was they stole?"

Tony's eyes closed briefly, the only sign that he would have liked to have been rolling them. Sure he was fine, of course. But he could at least tell when a fight was going to be pointless, so he just let out a long gust of a breath, slightly smoke-tinged.

"You let me worry about press conferences." It was hard not to sound slightly irritated about it. Steve seriously thought he'd strand them here just because he wanted to keep something private? His wings shifted a little before he made them settle back down. This was the other thing he hated about this shape, it was harder to keep his tells under control.

"And no. Does it matter?"

The frustration he bypassed completely because they were often pushing at each other and things turned frequently enough to a slightly negative edge. He wanted to remain calm at the moment, not only because of fire possibilities but also because of exhaustion. If they pushed too much, they could react impulsively.

"Of course it matters what they took!" Okay, the calmness did not last long at all did it? "Hydra wants to take over everything and I know shield has plenty of things they shouldn't and so much they don't tell anyone about."

He let out a sigh. "I wish we could reach Jarvis. He might be able to hack into shield and see what they might have that would interest hydra enough to do something this stupid."

He made a low, annoyed sound, deep in his chest. Probably rumbling right around where Steve was resting, actually, at much as Tony was trying to fight the emotion down. Now was really not the time for them to get into yet another fight.

His tail twitched restlessly behind him, but when Tony spoke, his tone was forcibly even. "What I mean is," he said carefully, "that it doesn't matter what they took because none of them got away. So they clearly didn't get it. We can worry about what they were trying for when we get back."

[ Annoyance spread throughout him, his arms folding tightly against his chest because excuse him Tony for not knowing the full gory details! He decided to keep more choice words from escaping his lips, though. ]

Okay, I didn't know what you did after I - [ He waved a hand out in the air as if it explained the rest of his words for him. ] Maybe I will try to sleep more. [ Preferable over falling into yet another fight. ]

We'll have to think about what to tell shield about what happened. [ Shifting around, he situated himself on the ground, resting curled up on his side. ]

Which part?

[It was dry, as he found himself watching Steve with mixed amusement and exasperation. Of course he would finally give in to getting rest on his own terms. But Tony wasn't going to just let him lie there, not when he could do better.

And not when Steve was far enough away that Tony could worry about whether he was going to wake up this time.]

Steve. [Low and intent.] Come here, okay? We need to make sure you stay warm.

Grumbling under his breath, Steve still moved closer when Tony prompted it, heat flooding through him almost instantly from it. He would never admit how much he appreciated the warmth and something else he did not have a name for, nor did he want to. There were so many things they never needed to look into or bring light towards. It would only complicate things too badly and he highly doubted Tony wanted it. Not really.

Eventually, he fell asleep and by the time he finally woke up the storm had ended, leaving clear but still chilly air. Sitting up with a groan, Steve noticed the weather outside the cave. "Finally! We have got to go Tony. See what else happened and if -" He shook his head, stumbling when he tried to stand up. "Oh," he groaned out, vision dancing somewhat but why?

Tony's head lifted from where it had been resting on his forelegs, reptilian eyes blinking at Steve's sudden flurry of motion. He'd been watching the storm slowly taper off and then stop, but it had seemed important to let Steve get all the rest his body needed, even if his mind disagreed. Apparently he was all recharged now.

"Steve?" He asked a little cautiously as the man weaved instead of getting up. "You okay?" One large arm curled around him to help him stay upright, claws carefully tucked out of the way.

Dark spots roamed back and forth in front of his vision but faded after a few minutes as if it never happened at all. So odd. With a shrug, Steve decided to not worry about it when they needed to focus on more important things. "I'm fine. I must have gotten up too fast after sleeping so long." He gave Tony a nonchalant look.

"Are you staying in dragon form for us to leave? We need to see what hydra is up to and what their plans are now." If only he knew what they did to him as he crashed into the water.

A dragon couldn't really manage it, but Tony still managed to convey the fact that he was arching an eyebrow somehow. Still, he let Steve get away with the deflection for the moment, if only because there really wasn't much he could do about it. He'd made sure the man slept, he couldn't exactly hold him down until he was honest about how he felt. Not here anyway.

"Don't think I have much of a choice. Armor's still fried." And an un-enhanced human traipsing through the snow towards what was very possibly another fight wasn't going to be of much use. "Besides, think of how much more damage I can do like this."

Clearly displeased by the idea, Steve still gave a nod of his head in the end because what other choice did they actually have at the moment? The snow prevented Tony from wandering out in human form and there could be other dangers lurking around too. "Okay, we should probably go now." Completely no nonsense but he needed to focus his mind on the task at hand and away from the weakness still tugging at him.

"You can keep an eye on the skies and I'll have a lookout on the ground." Not bothering to wait for a reply, Steve made his way out of the cave and towards the many blankets of white.

What could hydra be up to? They needed to discover it quickly.

With a gust of breath heavy enough to blow smoke, Tony slowly climbed to his feet. He took one moment to glance back at his pile of discarded armor, then quickly shoved it as far out of sight as possible. Nothing for it but to come back later, unfortunately. Strapping it to his back would just make things even more obvious.

That more or less accomplished, he ducked out of the cave to trail after Steve. It didn't take much to catch up with him, given four legs and a whole lot of extra height. He seemed placidly content to just keep pace with him at the moment, though those reptilian blue eyes were a lot more focused on Steve himself than anything else.

"And what exactly are we planning to do if we find something?"

"We'll take care of it," Steve responded, giving the dragon a significant look. Couldn't a dragon handle most things they might run into before they found safer ground? They needed to find such a place before nightfall. If they found a vehicle they could make it to the town easier. They really should have prepared better for being in the middle of no where.

"I'm more worried about the elements right now. It stormed harder overnight and we don't have any supplies that made it through the attack." Not any food or water.

He kept moving forward, limbs so heavy and tired. "Do you remember how far that town is? It has a base there."

"I don't think me going into town right now is a great idea." Steve could probably go alone, though. Tony was a lot more prepared to just hunker down and wait it out on his own, even if he didn't love the idea of letting Steve wander off by himself.

Especially given the way he was looking now. Tony watched him for another moment or so, then stepped out in front of him and dropped down as low as he could get. "Hey. Want a lift?"

Pausing in his trek, Steve gazed at the dragon silently for a moment. "I just need to get to the base to call for help. We can find you somewhere safe along the way and when help is coming you can shift back." Simpler than what would probably end up happening but he wanted to be optimistic. This also led on the assumption Tony would let him out of his sights for an extended period of time.

As for the lift, he considered it and almost shook in his head but in the end he accepted. "Just to be quicker. Not because I feel bad." With the serum in place, he should ever feel badly and it worried him more than he wanted to let onto. What did the water do to him? What did those odd hydra agents do to him?

"Of course," Tony agreed dryly, but as long as it got Steve moving than he wasn't going to complain. He kept carefully still as Steve climbed on, then slowly got to his feet and flexed his wings as he adjusted to the new weight. He'd never had a passenger in this shape before. Here was hoping he didn't manage to drop him.

Once Steve was settled he took off walking again, at a much brisker pace now that he didn't have to worry about anyone else keeping up. "That seems reasonable," he said finally, eyes narrowing as he tried to make out where the base was. "I mean, Natasha's going to laugh at us forever for calling in backup, but I can probably live with that." As long as it got Steve out of the cold, anyway.

Typically, Steve never asked for help our backup, which would clue Natasha in to the seriousness of their situation. She might even have some insight with what hydra wanted because shield sure never explained anything they didn't have to. It frustrated Steve because how could they properly do their jobs without as much information as possible?

Settled into place, Steve tried to not move much and topple to the ground. "She'll laugh but the worry will overtake it. We'll need someone to get the suit as quickly as possible." Yes, he cared more about that then whatever happened to him. It just didn't concern him much because he always anticipated the serum could handle anything. Eventually, he would be fine.

When they reached the hideout area for Tony, Steve looked around for things to bundle him up in. "You'll have to shift back before our reinforcements come."

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