Bucky & Riley: I’d be all for it if I didn’t know they are strictly friends. I mean, c’mon! Both have tragic backstories where they were used; both of them are trying to cope with their pasts and they can understand each other very well. It’s clear they are connected in a special way and it was not hard to see that Riley did have a huge crush on Bucky. But she is past that, or at least she said she was. Anyway, they have a great friendship I wouldn’t ruin with romance.Carol & Maria: I didn’t want to believe it at first but they are dating. I guess that with Maria it is a little hard to tell whether she wants to flirt or just psyche you out, but Carol managed as we can see. I’m very curious about where that will go from there so for now, I’m zipping my mouth shut and only watching from the shadows.Nora & Tony: They seem to act pretty friendly and comfortable around each other but there are two things. One, I never know what I can believe from a talk show. They may hate each other in real life and only put up a friendly face for the cameras. Honestly, who knows? And two, Pepper. Sorry, Nora, but even if you were hot for Tony, the man has been in a relationship with certain Virginia Potts for years now and he doesn’t look like he wants that to end anytime soon.Carol & Vizh: In theory, why the hell not? They are badass, very fine looking Avengers with the same political views. Was it not written in the stars? I mean, I think it wasn’t quite this hot in here only a few moments ago. However, I haven’t really seen them flirt before which makes me very, very sad.Lulu & Steve: Hm. Hmm. Let me just savour it for a moment. I can’t deny they would make a really beautiful couple. Just imagine their little blond-haired, blue-eyed, perfect children! Doesn’t this mental image want to make you go full on fangirl aww? But anyway, I’ve yet to see them interact. Maybe they don’t have any chemistry at all. That’d be a bummer.Logan & Maria: Ugh, no. That’d be too much brutal honesty in a relationship.Kitty & Bobby: With that much of an age difference, well... What is it, nine years? It wouldn’t be that big of a problem if they were both older. I’m thinking like if they were in their thirties or forties. But when one is twenty-six and the other is only seventeen; nah. I wouldn’t predict that relationship a very bright future. I can be mistaken, though. Unfortunately, I’m not a precog.
Tony let out a quiet yelp as he stumbled through the doorway to James’ cell. He quickly set the barrier back up and shuffled awkwardly into the room, his arm curled protectively around a bulge in his shirt. He slid down underneath James’ bed. “Hey, um, I’m hiding from the guard. Shh,” he said through an adrenaline grin.
Tony knocked softly on James’ door. “Uhm, James?” he called quietly. “I’m sorry it’s just, uh, Steve is on a mission and I can’t sleep. I was wondering if I could sleep on your floor? Just for tonight?”
Tony flopped backwards over the back of the couch and landed so that he was looking up at James, sitting next to him. Tony stared at him for a few minutes, contemplating– nothing. Because he didn’t remember the last time he had slept and he was pretty sure he had been in the hallway not five seconds ago.
Tony blinked a couple times before spinning himself around so that he was sitting properly. He thumped his feet onto the coffee table and looked back over at James. “Hello,” he said belatedly. “Can you– I’ve got a bunch of cookies to make,” Tony said haltingly. “C’mon you’re gonna help me.” Tony tugged James’ arm but the super soldier didn’t budge. “Tony, I think you shou-” Tony shook his head and tugged James’ wrist. “Shh shh sh shh. I can’t sleep. I'm restless; I can’t sleep right now. C’mon, cookies. JARVIS?” Tony waved a hand towards the kitchen. “Yes Sir,”replied the AI before immediately listing off the equipment and ingredients they would need. When James didn’t move, Tony sighed and placed one hand on his hip. “I’m gonna make some cookies whether you help or not and I can’t be held responsible for my own actions. I need supervision. If I break something or poison myself or someone else, I’m gonna blame you,” Tony said matter-of-fact-ly. “Also pleeease? I’m terrible at baking cookies. Baking is hard okay?” Tony bit his lip and puppy eyed as hard as he could.
Tony handed James a bag of flour and set to work on preparing, measuring and mixing all the ingredients. Little did he know it, James had been trailing behind him; adding things in, moving things from Tony’s reach and generally lessening the impact of the half conscious typhoon that Tony seemed to be impersonating. Neither of them spoke as they worked, bar the occasional request for an ingredient or a way to get passed but every now and then Tony would look up at James over the counter, giving him a small smile.
“Oh hang on I need to put the chocolate chips– No. Never mind I already did that…? Okay, it’s good to put on the tray.” Tony beamed with a fizzy excitement as he began rolling out the dough. When James came over to help, Tony bumped hips with him and grinned.
Tony looked through the door of the oven, watching the cookies with a bemused expression. “J? How long do these ones have to be in for?” “Twenty-five minutes, Sir.” Tony nodded and turned to James. “I’m gonna go find Brooklyn.”
Twenty minutes later Tony was passed out on the couch with Brooklyn draped over his neck , asleep and purring. Tony woke with a jolt and looked down at a startled Brooklyn. “Cookies,” he said to her before making his way back to the kitchen.
Tony rolled his eyes as he walked in to find James tidying up. “For God’s sake. With you and Steve letting me sleep all the time, I’m never going to get anything done,” Tony said with a teasing grin. He peered into the oven and his eyes widened. “Wow, they actually look really good!” Tony pulled them out and sat up on the bench as he waited for them to cool. Tony tossed a dish cloth at the back of James’ head before averting his eyes. “It was JARVIS not me.”
Once the cookies had cooled enough to touch, Tony handed one to James and took one for himself. He shuffled over on the bench so that James could stand next to him and took a big bite of the cookie. His eyebrows raised comically and he moaned loudly. “Oh my God these are amazing! You’re like a good luck charm; I’m keeping you.” He stuffed the rest of the cookie into his mouth before reaching around the other man to grab another. Tony leaned up and kissed James’ forehead and gave him a soft hug. “Thank you thank you thank you.”
[Full disclosure: I also regret this. Wow, pain, man. I’m going to leave a little bit of explaination at the bottom too actually bc it may not make as much sense as it should otherwise.]
~~~
Tony grinned as he climbed onto Steve’s lap. He felt Steve shuffle back on the couch so that Tony could straddle him easier. Tony leant down and captured Steve’s lips in his own before pulling away with a soft, “Hey,” Steve smiled up at him as he slipped his hands around to hold Tony’s thighs, “Hey yourself,” he said softly. Tony snaked his arms around the back of Steve’s head and pulled him in for another kiss. Tony hummed happily as Steve pulled on his lower lip. He glanced up as the door behind them opened and he smiled as James walked in. “James, why don’t you-” Tony cut himself off at the hurt look on his boyfriend’s face, “Babe, what’s the matter?” James ignored his question “Tony what- how could you?” Tony frowned in confusion, “What do you mean?” Tony jumped as the hands on his thighs moved further down to squeeze his ass, “Is there a problem,” a voice, a decidedly not Steve voice, spoke into his ear. Tony jolted back, pushing on Aaron’s- for it was, in fact, Aaron- shoulders. His stomach twisted as a slightly blurred realization hit him. “Wha-?” He looked up at James and shook his head, “No! I’m not- I wasn’t- James this isn’t what it looks like.” His boyfriend shook his head, anger and hurt flashing across his features. Tony tried to scramble up off of Aaron’s lap but his body wasn’t responding and he was held in place by firm hands. “Let me go!” He screamed but nothing came out of his mouth. He doubled his efforts, his body still ignoring his demands, as James turned to leave while Tony tried to beg for him to stay but nothing left his mouth, “I trusted you Tony…” James said softly. Tony was close to tears and he shook his head as Aaron began to kiss at his neck and collarbone. “Please, James, let me explain.” But he had already closed the door behind him. Tony’s hips jerked involuntarily as Aaron ground his hips up against Tony. When he finally managed to regain control of his limbs, his hands whirled as he hit Aaron anywhere he could, “Get your fucking hands off of me!” The other man let out a disappointed sigh before shoving Tony off of his lap. “Fine,” he said, “come back to me when you realize your boyfriend won’t want you anymore.” Tony scrambled to his feet, ignoring the other man as he ran for the door, he threw it open and found himself on the street outside the tower. He spun around, looking for James and he spotted him at the edge of the road, “James! Wait!” James gave him a quick glance before sprinting across the road, ignoring the cars that tooted around him. Tony followed, avoiding the cars a lot less gracefully than James had, one even bumping into his legs. He ran after James, calling his name the whole time. Finally the other man slowed ahead of Tony and Tony caught up, noticing as he got closer, that his shoulders were shaking.
“Tony, please just leave me alone.” His voice was unsteady and Tony’s heart broke at the suffering in it. “I’m sorry, I- I thought it was Steve.. I don’t- I don’t even remember how he got there- I don’t know what’s happening.” He said. James shook his head and turned to Tony, “I don’t believe you. I trusted you, Tony, and you cheated on me. I need you to leave me alone.” Tony reached for his boyfriend, “James, please.” He tried to pull him into an embrace but he was pushed away. “Don’t! Don’t…” James said, “Y- you smell like him.” Tony felt nauseous. He stepped away from James and stuttered, “I- I’m sorry…” James shook his head again and the betrayal that darkened in his eyes hit Tony with a thousand waves of guilt and self loathing. He watched James turn away and something cracked inside him. He doubled over as pain surged through him and he was gasping for air, eyes clenched shut.
When he opened his eyes again he was looking up at the ceiling of his bedroom. Confusion washed over him but was soon over ridden by something else entirely as someone licked the skin over where they had just bitten his hip. He let out an unwilling moan at the sensation, “James-?” he looked down and all previous desire drained from him as he looked into Aaron’s smirking eyes. “Nope, just me,” he mumbled against Tony’s skin. Tony shook his head, “No, I don’t want-” he looked up as the door opened and James walked in, shock, then confusion, then hurt registering on his face. “Tony?” He said quietly.
Tony’s head fell back against the pillows and he sobbed as he thought not again.
~~~
[Yeah, so um, basically Tony is in, like, a loop of nightmares where he finds himself with Aaron (in various stages of undress) and then James walks in. Tony can’t move at all or provide much of an explanation once he realizes what’s happening. He only gets control once James has left the room. This is a nightmare for Tony because, every time, he has to watch James trust in him break and see how he hurts him. And then he has to watch James leave without being able to do anything about it. Also, at the end of each loop he lets James leave because he knows James doesn’t want him and is better off without him…]
Tony ran a hand across his face as he let out a shaky breath. He gave a longing look at the bottle of whiskey sitting on the bookshelf but reluctantly turned away from it. He couldn’t resort to alcohol every time he had a problem, and both Steve and James hated it when he did, so he resolved to stay sober throughout- throughout what ever this would become. Tony turned around as the door opened. He tried for a reassuring smile and failed spectacularly, “Hey, I-” Tony paused and bit his lip as he looked up, distraught and eyes swimming with grief and guilt, at James/Steve. “I’m- I’ve done something. Something really terrible and- I want this relationship to work. More- more than anything, James/Steve, this, us- it’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I want- I want to be completely honest with you, I probably could have keep this to myself and nothing would have become of it but-” Tony shook his head, “I can’t- I won’t lie to you. I don’t expect you to forgive me but I need to tell you the truth.”
