#c. rhodey

[owncenotaph]

@milehighmechanic 

“i know you think i’m stupid. but i see what you’re doing.”      one would think that james would have figured out this game by now. when they were in college, tony pulled the exact same trick; feed rhodey alcohol, butter him up, and any bad news would go over much more smoothly. if tony was lucky, the bad news wouldn’t be broached at all, and they’d get sidetracked by a drunken game or prank or rant. today, though, rhodey is trying to maintain a sense of control over the conversation, even as he holds a glass of booze in his hand.

    “ --- what’d you do, tony?”

[owncenotaph]

@earnedstripes

rhodey doesn’t like being here. they won, but it seems all he can bring up are the bad memories. alone in the conference room, he can see tony’s ghost in the seat in the corner. it’s been months and months but tony’s absence remains palpable. if not for rhodey, then for his family. on the table, his cellphone lights up with a message from pepper; another photo from morgan, who has just figured out how to take a selfie with her mother’s assistance. 

he sits straight as he waits, struggling to focus on the present with the heavy silence in the room. since the end of their battle, he’s had a difficult time grounding himself back on earth.  -- and it’s not as if steve’s drastic shift in appearance does anything to help that. it still surprises rhodey to see him.

steve has changed, but haven’t they all? rhodey rubs his hand on his thigh, down towards his knee. he keeps the conversation to the point and spares pleasantries.  

“ -- what can i do to help.”

[owncenotaph]

[ 📲 • sms ] —— are you ignoring me? // @ rhodey

[ text: Tony ]: Yes.

[ text: Tony ]: Please leave a message after the tone

[owncenotaph]

@milehighmechanic

one.

he breathes in.

two.

he breathes out.

his fingers run through the fabric of the throw blanket on the couch. it’s soft and grey like the back of a cat, the tactile sensation grounding him into the room and in the now. tony’s living room is as silent as the day they realized he wasn’t coming home -- even with the frustrating genius somewhere inside, it feels different. wrong. like something has changed. 

rhodey sits in his uniform, stick straight as he waits. it’s a familiar routine but there’s an edge to it now: what if tony doesn’t come up from downstairs? what if the plane ride and the press conference and the desert was all a trickery of his exhaustion and anxiety?

finally, he decides to ask jarvis. it’s something he would’ve asked with obvious annoyance, but that would’ve been before. now, he’s quiet.

“ j --- is he coming up here or what? ”