#how howard and maria met

[ivysos2001]

Just finished rewatching agent carter for the millionth time so naturally I’m mad at the cancellation all over again

[persephonesfill]

steve meeting a young tony rotten with grief after december 16, 1991 and thinking "oh. he's like me."

[just-dreaming-marvel]

Crimson Ties ~ 9

CRIMSON TIES MASTERLIST

< previous chapter

Word Count: 2,780ish

Summary: You meet your new bodyguard. Howard comes over for a visit.

Warning(s): panic attack, fighting

Notes: Hopefully this chapter makes sense.... Please send in reactions!

Reminder: I DO NOT do taglists. Please don’t ask. Please follow and interact! I appreciate any reblogs, likes, comments, and asks!

“Where is she?” Natasha asked as she burst into the house with her sister right behind her. “Is she alright?”

Steve was there to greet them. “She’s fine. She’s in her studio,” he told them. “It’s nice to see you Yelena.”

“You too, Rogers,” Yelena replied.

“I can take you to Y/N.”

“We can handle ourselves,” Natasha said. “You boys have done enough for one day.”

“Hey! I didn’t do anything.”

“That’s just as bad.” Natasha led Yelena over to your studio and knocked.

“Come in,” they heard you timidly say from the other side.

The two women quickly entered the room and shut the door behind them. You were on the other side, pulling finished, painted pieces from the kiln. You turned slightly to see Natasha and an unfamiliar woman slowly come closer.

“Hey, Y/N,” Natasha greeted. “I brought someone I would like you to meet. This is my sister, Yelena. She’s going to be your new bodyguard.”

“Hi, Y/N,” Yelena stepped closer. “It’s really nice to meet you.”

You stopped what you were doing and gave them your full attention. They could tell how nervous and tense you were. You barely looked up at them, opting for mostly looking down at your feet. It almost frustrated Natasha that she felt like she had been making progress with you and for it to only be pulled away. She knew you weren’t to blame. The men in your lives were the ones who couldn’t get their heads out of their asses.

“Nice to meet you,” you mumbled.

Natasha finally closed the gap between you and her, pulling you in for a hug. You stood ridged for a moment before hugging her back.  

“Thanks, Nat,” you whispered.

“Anything you need,” she responded, pulling away. “Anything.”

You nodded. “Can you bring some pieces to a few people at the Stark house?”

“Of course. What have you made?”

You pulled out a box from under the counter and set it next to the finished pieces. “I have this vase for Maria.” The vase was rectangular, painted in a cream color with light blue flowers around it. “This ashtray is for Howard.” It was a circular, grey ashtray with the Stark emblem painted in the center.  “Then I have mugs for you and Peggy.”

“These are all amazing, Y/N.”

“You’ve got some serious talent,” added Yelena.

“It’s just a hobby,” you muttered.

Yelena scoffed. “Bullshit. This is art museum, sell for thousands of dollars worthy.”

“As you can see, my sister keeps little to herself,” Natasha commented. “I’m sure that you’ll enjoy her commentary.” Natasha carefully arranged the pieces of ceramics into the box. “I will get these delivered. Unless you want to come with.”

You shook your head. “I don’t want to leave right now.”

“Okay. I’ll take these back. But Yelena’s going to stay. Call if she’s too much or if you need anything else.”

“Thanks again, Nat.”

Natasha gave you one last smile before heading out with your gifts. Yelena began to walk around the room, studying it and looking at your projects.

“What are you working on next?” Yelena wondered, seeing some projects drying while others are waiting to be painted.

“Uh, I think I’m going to paint a few more pieces,” you answered.

“Oh! That’s fun!”

Yelena watched as you grabbed a cake stand and some paints and sat down. She kept herself alert to the surroundings while also focused on you. 

“Oh my gosh, I have the best idea!” Yelena suddenly announced. “What if you hosted a girls night? And we all painted pieces or you taught us how to make something!”

“I don’t know…” you mumbled. “I’m really not that good.”

“Well, again, bullshit. And it’s more about having fun all together.”

“I still don’t know.”

Yelena sat down a across from you. “Look, I know that I met you like five minutes ago. But trust me when I say that Maria, Natasha, Peggy, and now me would love to spend more time with you. Especially in your element. What you do in here is amazing. Don’t be afraid to show off.”

You took a silent moment to think about it. It would be nice to hang out with all of them where you were more comfortable. And it could be fun to teach them a thing or two.

“Okay,” you agreed. “We can do it.”

“Yes!” Yelena exclaimed. “I can plan everything, so don’t worry too much about it.”

~~~

Yelena and you got to know each other more as you had dinner. Afterwards, Yelena got pulled into a meeting in Tony’s office so you went outside. It was dark outside, but you could see the stars. You sat down on one of the chairs and focused on the night sky.

Meanwhile, Pepper arrived for her night with Tony. She waited in his room for a while before getting antsy and decided to go exploring. She knew that she wasn’t allowed to go on your side of the house, but if Tony was in a meeting, what harm was it going to do? She had already seen your studio once anyway. Pepper headed into the main living room with now shame and almost immediately caught sight of you outside. She smirked to herself. She had yet to actually meet you and now seemed like the perfect time. Pepper headed outside and sauntered up to you.

Your breath hitched at the sound of someone coming closer. Your head turned to see a tall, skinny redhead standing beside you. You sat up straighter, immediately on alert. 

“Hello, I’m Pepper,” she greeted with a forced smile.

“Hi,” you whispered.

“I’m sure you know who I am. Gosh, you probably hear me and Tony every night.” You remained silent, not knowing what to say. You figured that Tony had someone warming his bed. But you didn’t expect to meet her like this. “I’m so sorry about that. I’ll make sure to try to keep it down. He is your husband after all.”

“If you make him happy, then he should be with you.”

That caught Pepper off guard. You weren’t fighting for Tony. You didn’t even seem to really care. “Right. Well, how kind of you.”

“Pepper,” Tony’s voice called from the doorway. You both snapped your heads in his direction. Yelena, Steve, and Clint were standing behind him. “Go back to the room.”

“Sorry, I just wanted to meet your lovely wife.”

“Now.” Pepper huffed as she spun on her heel and headed back inside. Tony’s eyes fell back on you. “She shouldn’t have been out here.”

“It’s alright,” you told him. 

“I’ll make sure to remind her of the rules tonight. Yelena is going to get settled into her room now. She’ll be taking one of the rooms closest to yours while Clint is on watch for the night.”

“I don’t want to be a burden.”

“You are not being a burden. This is their jobs and they are more than happy to do it.”

You nodded, still feeling like this was a lot. You stood from your chair. “Can I head to bed?”

The four watching you each hated that you felt like you had to ask to do anything. “Of course,” Tony responded. “Goodnight, Y/N.”

“Goodnight,” then you slipped in to head to your room.

None of them said anything until they heard your door shut. Steve then immediately shoved Tony.

“Pepper was suppose to remain on your side of the house,” he reprimanded. “Unseen, away from Y/N.”

“I will talk to her tonight,” Tony retorted. “I’ll make sure it never happens again.”

“Maybe she never comes here again.”

“Watch yourself, Rogers. I am still your boss.”

“Howard is my boss and I am sure he’d side with me on this.”

Tony scoffed. “My father should not be judging me as I am just following in his footsteps.”

“Perhaps you should be trying to do better.”

~~~

Tony found himself going to his room an hour later. Pepper had stripped down to her lingerie and was waiting on the bed.

“Finally,” she commented when he entered. “Did you’re wife need you or something?”

“I had work to do,” he responded, heading to the bathroom without glancing Pepper’s way.

“You know,” she slipped off the bed and followed him, “your wife doesn’t care about the two of us together. Can you believe that?” It didn’t surprise Tony one bit that you didn’t seem to care about him and Pepper being together. “I think she’s lying though. She has to be jealous.”

“Why does it matter to you?”

“Well, don’t you want her to be jealous?”

“I barely even know her, Pep. So, why would I want that?” He sighed. “Can we just drop this? I had a long day and I’m tired.”

“Of course.” She wrapped her arms around him from behind and began kissing his neck. “Let’s head to bed and have some fun.”

“No. No, Pep. I really meant it. We’re sleeping or you can leave.”

She rolled her eyes. “Come on, Tony. I even got all dolled up for you.”

“I’m serious. Nothing is happening tonight. You can sleep here with me, like actual sleep. Or you are free to leave.”

Pepper pulled away from Tony with a huff. “You are ridiculous. I’m leaving. Call me when you actually want to do something.”

~~~

The next morning you got texts from Maria and Peggy, thanking you for their gifts. After breakfast, you ended up sitting at the piano and playing. Yelena kept herself close, but not too close as to overwhelm you. As you got lost in the music, Howard and Bucky showed up. They entered the house without a knock and stuck close to the door as they noticed you playing the piano. Once you were finished with the song, Howard immediately began clapping. You were completely caught off guard. You scrambled off the bench, standing in front of the piano with your hands clasped together and your head slightly down. 

“I’m sorry to disturb you,” Howard apologized, coming further into the house. “That was beautiful, Y/N. You have some serious talent.”

“It’s nothing,” you mumbled.

“It’s not nothing. Like that ashtray that I found on my desk this morning. It was very well done. I came over to personally thank you for it and to see more of your studio, if you would let me.”

“I—I can give you a tour.”

You lead him to your studio, entering it first. Howard turned to Bucky and Yelena who were following the two of you.

“We are okay,” he told them. “I would like to talk to my daughter-in-law alone.”

Yelena looked at you to check to see if you were okay with that. You gave you a slight nod and she backed down. Howard shut the door behind him before he started to slowly round the room, studying it.

“Your work is very good, Y/N,” he complimented. “It must have taken you so many years to excel at your craft like this.”

As Howard rounded the room, he asked questions about a few pieces and you gave simple, quiet answers. Though you were still on edge, you did begin to feel more comfortable with Howard.

~~~

Steve exited Tony’s office to see Bucky and Yelena standing outside of your closed studio doors.

“Bucky?” Steve questioned. “Is Howard here?”

“Y/N gifted him an ashtray and he wanted to come personally thank her,” Bucky explained.

“Interesting. I’ll let Tony know he’s here.” He turned back around and went into the office. “Hey. Howard’s here talking to Y/N in her studio.”

“Really? Why?”

“She made him an ashtray. He wanted to thank her.”

“Just to thank her?”

“That’s what Bucky said.”

“Well, I have access to the security cameras. Let’s see what they’re saying.”

~~~

“How are you enjoying Yelena so far?” Howard asked.

“She’s great,” you replied.

“Good. And Tony’s treating you okay?”

“Yes.”

“I know that he is not the best of husbands. But I have faith that he will get there someday. I honestly hope that you two will have children in the next few years. Grandchildren and heirs.” Your stomach knotted up at his words as your heart began to pound in your chest. “I know that Tony has his, well, Pepper. She is a distraction, I understand, and I will do what I can to prevent her from continuing to come here so that Tony can focus on you.”

“I— I’m fine.”

“Yes, I’m sure. But I expect a lot from my son as a husband and he is barely doing anything for you. The two of you have heirs is of the upmost importance to the family name and business. He needs to—“

The door suddenly burst open, revealing a raging Tony coming through. You stumble back, scared. The impact of the door caused a large vase waiting to be painted to fall to the ground and shatter.

“You don’t have any right to talk to my wife about me or decisions that we may make together!” He yelled. 

“I do have all the right,” Howard retorted. “She is your wife because of me. The two of you are to create heirs to our family business. To pass down the family name.”

Yelena looked over to see you hugging yourself and trembling. She pushed Tony aside and quickly got to you, ignoring the yelling match the two men were having.

“Come on,” she whispered. “Let’s get you out of here.”

The two continued yelling, not bothering to notice that Yelena was practically carrying you out of the room. She led you to your bedroom and got you situated in bed. Tears were trailing down your face as you curled up in bed as you could hear the muffled shouts of the two men.

“Get out!” Tony shouted at Howard. “Leave me and Y/N alone!”

“I will not,” Howard said. “You two need to start acting like husband and wife. We have a dinner with our partners in three days and I expect you and Y/N to be there acting like the newlyweds you should be. You don’t want to know the consequences that will follow if you are not there.”

“Leave. Now.”

“Fine. But you have three days to get your act together and start treating your wife like she’s actually your wife.”

Howard took his leave with Bucky following. Steve stepped into the room and immediately noticed the broken piece of pottery.

“Shit,” he muttered. He knelt down and starting gathering the pieces to see if he could fix it. 

Tony stood there, panting, trying to calm his mind down. “He crossed a line,” he murmured. 

“So did you.”

Tony spun around. “Excuse me.”

“This is Y/N’s safe place. Well, it was. You should have pulled Howard into your office instead of barging in here shouting.”

“She’s fine. Right—“ He looked around only to finally realize that you were no longer in the room. “Where is she?”

Steve stood up and placed some of the pieces on the counter. “Yelena took Y/N to her room.”

“I didn’t… I just…”

“Tony, I know that you are conflicted with this whole situation. But you have got to be careful around Y/N. There is more there than any of us truly understand. And if you and her are expected and that dinner in three days, you know that her father and Brock will most likely be there. They are not on her side. She will need to be carefully watched after to make sure they don’t over step. That is your job, as her husband. You need to be able to do that.”

Tony looked at the broken pieces of the pottery and sighed. He knew it hadn’t handle that well, he rarely ever did when it came to his father. “Can you put those pieces in my garage? I’m going to get some work done.”

~~~

Brock found Obadiah sitting in his office, drinking a glass of whiskey while staring at a photo of you.

“They upped security,” Brock complained, pouring himself a drink. “I couldn’t get in the house tonight.”

“I need you to figure out a way,” Obadiah replied. “You have to keep her in your grasp. It’s the only way everything will work in our favor.”

“I’ll go back and scout it out tonight. See if I can spot a hole in their plan.”

“Try to find it before the dinner we will be attending in three days. You need to remind her that she is my daughter first. Not a Stark. That she belongs to us.”

“You got it, boss.”

next chapter >

[loversrocktvgirl2]

my mini multiverse of madness…

Countryboy!Young!Tony AU x Reader 

@dontwanttobeanamericanidiot

masterlist

A/N- Disclaimer: He’s not like, a full fledged country boy, okay? Just read it and it’ll click

Precisely ten months, two weeks, and four days ago, Tony got himself arrested for possession of alcohol as a minor. Tony was a firm believer in the “it doesn’t matter what you do as long as you don’t get caught” philosophy, so he was rather disappointed in himself. And when his parents chastened him and he said he was disappointed in himself, he was being sincere. Maybe he wasn’t disappointed in himself in the way his parents figured he ought to be, but he was disappointed nonetheless. Not that it mattered much. They didn’t believe him anyway. 

To be frank, this was not the first run-in Tony had had with the law, or the first kind of major screw-up that he’d managed to get himself into. Was it getting harder to keep it from getting out to the press? Yes. Yes, it was. But the Starks had a lot of money and a lot of power, and anyone frightened enough certainly didn’t want to expose them. 

So Howard and Maria Stark came to the conclusion that it would be in everybody’s best interest if Tony were to go spend a year on a farm owned by a family friend. There would be a lot of manual labor involved, homeschooling, punishment for lack of manners, etc. Howard and Maria didn’t want to fix their son—they wanted someone else to fix him for them. Tony was sent off to a farm located in Coastal Plain, Georgia, to live with an older couple named Clyde and Dee on their farm for the next year. 

Of course, Tony hated the arrangement at first. There wasn’t too much technology for him to play around with, and that was probably the biggest loss. There were no longer bodyguards for him to escape, but the rules here felt stricter than they had at home. No elbows on the table, lights off at 9:30, get out of bed the first time you’re woken up, the list went on and on. But he grew to like Clyde and Dee a whole lot. He liked driving the tractor down the rural roads, and he’d gotten used to waking up at the crack of dawn eventually. He didn’t wear the clothes he used to wear at home anymore, but he kept the band t-shirts and jeans. One of the things that had delighted him about the circumstances was that, while his parents hated him wearing jeans and layering flannels over band tees, this was a generally accepted element of dressing etiquette. He’d taken a liking to wearing overalls, and often wore long sleeved white t-shirts with his coral beige overalls and a cowboy hat. 

The accent change had not escaped him. Tony had a tendency to talk “smart,” as Clyde would say. He was quick to jump in with a sarcastic comment, and Clyde was having none of that. Tony was always around Clyde and Dee, and eventually, some of the words they used, slang, and some of the ways they said certain words had slipped into his voice. He still had plenty of his own tone and vocabulary, of course, but he’d fallen in sync with them. And after ten months, two weeks, and four days of mainly hearing Georgian southern accents, it had become normalized for him. 

You were the niece of Clyde and Dee. You didn’t live on a farm, but you were far from a city girl. And every year, without fail, for two weeks, you went and stayed with Clyde and Dee in August. They loved you, and had talked up your visit to Tony for weeks. They’d told him anecdotes about you (like that time you’d accidentally kidnapped a duck, which they ended up keeping and naming Blaartholomew, or about how you used to be scared of goats as a kid, the list went on and on), talked about how excited they were for your visit, and how he was going to “just love you” when he finally met you. 

You showed up one afternoon in a beat up blue pickup truck, hair in a ponytail, wearing an open flannel shirt, jeans, and a Noah Kahan shirt. “Heya, Dee and Tony, take a look at what the cat dragged in!” Clyde called out to them in the house. Clyde stepped out onto the porch, Dee right beside him. Tony followed, not wanting to be left out, and also out of curiosity. 

The second you got out of the car, you ran towards Clyde and Dee and into Clyde’s arms. After you’d hugged him, you hugged Dee. “I missed y’all!” your cheerful voice exclaimed. “Hey, you’re Tony, huh?” You asked him, and he nodded. “C’mere, Tony, I don’t bite.” You hugged him briefly, then returned your attention to Clyde and Dee. “I just got my normal bag, I’ma run and grab it.” 

Tony’s heart stopped when you’d hugged him. You were a helluva lot prettier than he’d imagined. And you had some of the same charm that Clyde and Dee carried with them. Now, it wasn’t like he hadn’t seen pretty girls in his ten months, three weeks, and two days of living here—Clyde took him into town often to deliver things like blueberries, pecans, peanuts and such—but now you were going to be here living with them for two weeks. He was both excited and concerned. Excited, because he wanted to get to know you, and concerned, because he highly doubted that Clyde and Dee wanted him to get too close to their darling niece. And he understood that. He’d been brought here because he was a “problem child,” but he still wanted to get to know you. 

Everyone sat down to have dinner at around 6 o’clock. Dee had made a casserole. “So, how have things been with you?” Clyde asked you as he dug into dinner. You all sat around a square table—you were across from Tony, and Clyde was across from Dee. 

“Pretty good,” you said with a smile. “Volunteerin’ at the library, school, and things. Y’all been busy?”

Dee nodded as Clyde began to answer. “Sure have. But this fella here’s been a pretty big help,” he patted Tony on the back. Tony smiled. 

“Tell me how you got about to gettin’ down here,” you said to Tony, trying to engage him in the conversation, as you lifted a forkful to your mouth. 

Tony laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. “My parents wanted to get me into shape, I guess. Too much foolin’ around.” Your eyebrows raised only slightly, and you nodded. “Beer in the back of the car,” he shrugged. 

“He’s been doin’ pretty well here, though,” Dee said with a smile, trying to lighten up the conversation a smidge. “Real helpful. I don’t have to carry as much as I used to, what with all these animals we’ve gotta feed. He carries things ‘round for me, does chores and such, I like havin’ him.”

You grinned. “Sounds like you’re fittin’ right in,” you commented. 

“Yes ma’am,” Tony nodded with a playful smile. 

You laughed. “Don’t call me ma’am—I’m no older than you.” 

“Yes ma’am.” 

The next day, Clyde needed to go deliver a couple cartons of blueberries to the market. You offered to do it, and he wasn’t surprised by this. You loved to drive the truck. “You sure about this though? Those cartons are real heavy,” Clyde warned. 

“I’ll take Tony with me then,” you shrugged. “C’mon, Tony! We’re going for a ride.” 

Tony looked up from his sheet of notebook paper (he had to do a little bit of homework over the summer—the details of the homeschooling arrangement his parents had created with Clyde and Dee were messy) and then looked over at Clyde, who waved him to the door. “Go on. You gotta help her carry the boxes. She wants to drive.”

Tony immediately got up and followed you out the door. The boxes were sitting on the porch, and the beaten up blue pickup truck was pulled up to the steps. “So…we’re loading the boxes?” Tony asked. 

“Yeah, and then we’ll unload ‘em there, give ‘em over to Mr. Ryan, ‘nd drive back,” you said. 

“Alright, let’s get to it.” 

Tony and you lifted all of the cartons one by one and loaded them into the bed of the truck. You closed it, then climbed into the driver’s seat. He got in on the passenger’s side. He watched as you pulled away from the driveway and began heading down the country road. 

“So, how long have you been coming here in the summers?” Tony asked you, trying to start a conversation. 

You shrugged. “Maybe since I was eight or nine. About seven or eight years, I guess.” 

“You like it here?” Tony asked. 

“I love it,” you answered, a hint of a smile in your tone. “I know everyone here, everyone knows me. It’s so different from home, but it feels like another home? I don’t know how to explain it. I like the accents, the roads, the food, the everything. I wish I was here more than I am, if I’m honest.”

Tony smiled. It was quite heartwarming to see you speak so highly of the place.

“What about you, how do you like it?” you asked. 

Tony exhaled, leaning his arm against the open window, letting the warm summer breeze ruffle his hair. "Y’know, if you’d asked me that about ten months ago, I’d have told you I hated it." He smirked a little. "Didn’t think I was built for the whole ‘early mornings, dirty hands’ kinda thing."  

You chuckled. "And now?"  

Tony tilted his head, thinking. "Now... it ain’t so bad. Clyde and Dee—they're real good people. And there’s somethin’ about this place that just slows everything down, makes things quieter. Gives you space to think."  

You nodded, glancing at him out of the corner of your eye as you maneuvered the truck around a bend. "Yeah. That’s what I love about it too. Feels like the rest of the world don’t exist for a little while."  

Tony hummed in agreement. For a few miles, the two of you just sat in comfortable silence, the sound of the wind and the truck’s tires against the gravel filling the space between words.  

Then you grinned. "You’re startin’ to sound like one of us, you know."  

Tony scoffed, but his smile betrayed him. "Think so?"  

"Oh, definitely. The accent’s creepin’ in. Give it a few more months, you’ll be drinkin’ sweet tea and talkin’ ‘bout ‘fixin’ to go do somethin’ like you been here your whole life."  

Tony laughed, shaking his head. "Guess there’s worse things."  

You turned onto the main road into town, and Tony found himself wishing the drive were just a little longer. It was easy talking to you. Natural. Like he hadn’t spent the last ten months trying to prove he wasn’t some rich city kid who didn’t belong.  

Maybe, for the first time in a long time, he felt like he actually did.

A couple of days later, Tony was lying in his bed, trying his hardest to fall asleep when you walked into his room, laid down on his bed, and rested your head on his side with your arm draped around him. “C’mon, get up,” you whispered to him.

“Well, you get comfortable quick, don’tcha?” Tony teased. 

You gently slapped his arm. “C’mon, we’re goin’ out. You’re comin’ with me.”

“What are we gonna do?”

“We’re goin’ dancin’.”

The neon sign buzzed above the entrance of the bar, casting a warm glow over the dusty parking lot. Tony hesitated as you tugged him toward the door, your fingers wrapped around his wrist. “Not sure if you’ve noticed, but I don’t exactly have two-steppin’ experience,” he pointed out, though he let you pull him inside anyway.

“That’s alright,” you grinned, leading him through the crowd. “I’ll teach ya.”

The place was packed, the wooden floor vibrating under the weight of cowboy boots tapping in rhythm to the music. A live band played on the small stage, the fiddle and steel guitar twanging through the speakers. The scent of beer, sweat, and warm summer air filled the space.

Tony glanced around, a little skeptical. This was a far cry from the sleek, high-end clubs he’d been used to back home. But then he looked at you—already swaying to the beat, eyes bright, completely in your element—and, well… maybe this wasn’t so bad.

“C’mon, city boy,” you teased, grabbing both of his hands and pulling him toward the dance floor.

He groaned. “You really want me to embarrass myself in front of all these people?”

“No one’s watchin’,” you promised, stepping in close. “Just follow my lead.”

You placed his hands where they needed to be—one on your waist, the other clasped with yours. Tony swallowed, suddenly a little too aware of the warmth of your body against his. “Alright,” he said, “but if I step on your toes, that’s on you.”

You laughed, beginning to move, and—miraculously—Tony found himself keeping up. It was simple at first, just a slow sway in time with the music, but then you nudged him into a proper rhythm, guiding him through the steps of a country waltz. He stumbled once or twice, but you didn’t let go, just kept smiling, encouraging.

“See? You’re a natural,” you teased.

Tony scoffed. “I think you’re just bein’ nice.”

“Nope,” you insisted, spinning under his arm before returning to him seamlessly. “You’ve got it in you. Just gotta stop thinkin’ so hard.”

Something about the way you said it made Tony’s breath catch for just a second. Stop thinking. Just be here. With you.

The music picked up, and suddenly, you were leading him into a faster spin, laughing as his eyes widened in surprise. But he caught on quickly, gripping your waist a little tighter as the two of you moved across the dance floor.

Maybe it was the music, or the whiskey-sweet air, or the way your smile lit up the whole damn room—but Tony Stark, the city boy who had never imagined himself at home in a place like this, found himself not wanting the night to end.

Retrograde… we’d shake the frame of your car 

Now I know your name, but not who you are

It’s all okay, there ain’t a drop of bad blood

It’s all my love, you’ve got all my love 

And when the song slowed again, and you stayed pressed close to him, your head leaning against his shoulder, he realized something else:

He didn’t want to let go.

Over the course of the next week, Tony spent more and more time with you. Clyde and Dee had noticed for sure, but they said nothing. Tony had grown on them greatly and they adored you, so as long as there was no “funny business,” they were willing to leave you alone.

The last night of your stay, you were sitting out on the porch by yourself, enjoying a little of the summer night. Tony came outside and sat beside you. “How‘s it goin’, Stark?” you asked casually.

“It’s alright,” Tony answered. “Kinda sucks you’re leaving, but it’s fine.”

You chuckled. “I never wanna leave here.”

“I don’t either.”

The two of you sat in comfortable silence, looking up at the stars. 

“Stars are brighter here, farther from the city,” you said. “I can’t tell what the fuck constellations I’m lookin’ at either way though.”

Tony laughed. Why did he need to leave this little taste of heaven in Georgia? He loved this. He loved it so much. And he felt a helluva lot more loved here than he did at home. 

When Tony woke up in the morning, it was hell. He remembered you were leaving. Hell, you might already be gone. He sighed, and turned on the radio by his bedside table. 

We once sang… 

Retrograde, we’d shake the frame of your car 

It all came back to him in that moment. This song, your dancing, every moment he’d ever shared with you. God, he was going to miss you. He didn’t have an address to write to, a phone number to call, and he hadn’t even had a proper goodbye. Tony shot up out of bed, grabbed a flannel shirt and through it on. He’d slept in his jeans and a t-shirt. “DEE! I’MA LEAVE FOR A QUICK SECOND, I’LL BE RIGHT BACK!!” Tony called as he ran out the door. 

Dee hurried after him. “Tony! TONY! Where are you going??”

“I HAVE TO SAY GOODBYE AND GET HER NUMBER!” Tony yelled and hopped into the tractor before steering it onto the road and driving as fast as he could (which was not very fast. The tractor was pretty slow in the grand scheme of vehicles).

Dee chuckled to herself. Clyde appeared beside her. “What‘s he yellin’ ‘bout now?”

“Young love,” Dee replied with a smile. 

Tony pulled the tractor into a parking spot in the train station. You’d rented a car when you came here, and he knew you’d take the train home. He ran into the building, frantically searching around for you.

At last, Tony’s eyes led him to your relaxed form, sitting on a bench, waiting. He ran towards you. “Y/N! Y/N. Hi. I…” his breathing was a little heavy from all the adrenaline. “IreallylikeyouandIwaswonderingifIcouldbychancegetyourphonenumber.”

You looked at him perplexed. “What did you say?”

“I…” Tony stared at you for a moment. “I really like you and I was wondering if I could get your phone number.”

Your face lit up. “Hell yeah.” You gently took his hand and scribbled your phone number on it. 

Tony smiled at you. “Thanks.”

You nodded. “‘Course.”

The two of you watched as the train pulled into the station.

“That’s me.”

“Yeah.”

You pulled him to you and kissed him, on his lips, right in front of everyone at the train stop. When you pulled away, you smiled at him and said, “Bye, Stark.”

Tony was half in shock, but he managed to smile back and say, “Bye.”

You picked up your one bag and boarded the train, and Tony watched as it pulled away. In that moment, he’d never been more grateful the cops had caught him with beer in the back of his truck. 

[momentofch-aos]

M's Marvel Thought of the Day

Daniel Sousa, now settled in the 21st century, looks up what happened to his friends from his own timeline.

Daisy had already gently broken the news about Peggy's death to him. They visited her grave site and talked about the adventures and missions the two had been on.

He read the case file on Howard and Maria Stark's death, the Winter Solider case and knowledge of who he was sending him for a loop. He'd met Sergeant Barnes once, that day when he thought he would die on the battle field. He had never been Howard's biggest fan but no one deserved that.

He read the obituaries of Ana and Edwin Jarvis, found they were buried in New York, side by side as they'd been in life. He left pink flowers - Ana's favourite colours of peonies - on their grave, and thanked them for their friendship and support.

There had been two people he'd been somewhat surprised to find out were still alive and unbelievably in the same old people's home in DC. He'd been unsure whether visiting would be a good idea but after some gentle investigating from Daisy and Mack, he found himself entering a rec room. There was various elderly people around, reading newspapers or napping in high backed armchairs. But no-one looked familiar. Daisy squeezed his hand before getting the attention of one of the nurses, who led them around the corner of the room.

As they make their approach when Daniel hears a far too familiar voice, making him stop in his tracks.

"Ha! Got you again Thompson, pay up!" Rose Roberts, with now grey hair but with the same thick glasses, smirked triumphantly across the top of the checkers board.

The older man across the table groaned. "We go through this every damn day Rose. Can we go back to Chess?" Daniel took in the older man he'd known a life time ago, hair still slicked back in the way it had always been. A cane leant against the wall behind him and he coughed after laughing at Rose's comeback.

"Chief Thompson? Agent Roberts?" The nurse asked drawing their attention. "You have some visitors."

Both former agents looked across to see Daniel standing with an indecipherable look on his face.

"Fucking hell..."

"What the hell..." Their voices overlapped suddenly.

"Hey Rose, hey Jack." Daniel said stepping forward. Rose struggled to her feet, using the table to leverage herself up.

"Chief? Is that really you?" Rose looked up at him, his arms coming up to help balance her.

"It's me. It's good to see you Rose." And he found himself engulfed in her arms, wrapping his back around her and holding her tight. "God it's good to see you Rose."

"How the hell are you here?" She said as she looked back up to him. "And who's the beautiful woman you brought with you?" She fixed him with that same mischievous look she used to shoot at him all the time after glancing to Daisy who stood off to the side. Always so invested in his love life, so he chuckled.

"I can explain everything I promise. Why don't we sit?" He helped her back to her chair, glancing across to Jack who had his hand's in fists on the other side of the table. "Hi Thompson."

"Who are you?" He demanded. "You're sure as hell not Daniel Sousa. He died in...55." He paused remembering the exact year. "We buried him. We... mourned him. You sure as hell aren't him."

"I can explain that I am Jack."

"I am 102, not stupid." Rose scoffed, making both men turn to her.

"Jack do be serious. What about Rogers? He came back to Peg did he not?"

"How can we be sure? It may be some traitor. Davey was telling me just the other day about those shape shifting aliens Fury was palling around with..." Jack started saying.

"How about this Jack? I'll prove it to you." The older man looked puzzled but let him continue. "Before you went to Russia with Carter, met the Howling Commandoes when we were investigating Stark. You tricked me in the locker room, into seeing Carter changing. You asked me to get your compass from..."

"Locker 42." Jack finished his sentence and looked Daniel up and down, his gaze resting on the prosthetic leg.

"I've still only got one leg but the future makes a better prosthetic than Stark by a mile." Daniel joked, and Jack stood at that, pulling Daniel into a hug that he was not expecting. "It's good to see you too Jack."

They sat back down, chairs pulled up for Daniel and Daisy, as they told the story of faking his death, and pulling him out of time. Of their adventures into space and the weird and wacky things he'd discovered in the 21st Century.

They told him stories from their own lives after his death, cases he'd missed out on, Howard's ridiculousness. Peggy's rise to power. The three old friends spoke fondly of her, recalling stories from throughout the time they spent with her.

Rose grilled him and Daisy on their story and relationship, telling Daisy all the embarrassing things that Daniel had been happy to leave behind in the 50's. The unlikely pair giggled and formed a friendship.

Rose told her stories of her first and second marriage, her daughter, son-in-law and grandson who would visit every weekend.

Jack had been married when Daniel died, to Peggy's lovely personal secretary Ruth who knew how to put him in his place. They'd only had a daughter the year or two before Daniel supposedly died. Jack talked about how they'd gone on to have three more daughters, now had 8 grandchildren, including a grandson who had joined SHIELD recently (Daniel promised to keep an eye out for him). Then, his Ruth had passed a few years ago and Daniel expressed his condolences.

At that moment, a young boy, probably 5-years-old barrelled into the room and to Jack's side. "Pops, Pops!"

"Hey there, Danny. How's my favourite guy?" With surprising strength for a man of his years, Jack swung the young man up till he was sat on his knee.

"I'm good! Momma's coming now." He pointed to where a pretty blonde was making her way across the room, shaking her head as she stooped to kiss Jack on the cheek and ruffle her son's head.

"Sorry Grandpa, the traffic was horrendous." She greeted Rose much the same way, passing her a package. "Fudge from that place on 4th for your Rose, Danny over there insisted." She turned to the guests who sat between them. "Hello, I'm Ruthy." She shook their hands.

"Ruthy, this is Daniel and Daisy. Daniel, Daisy, my granddaughter Ruthy and her son, Danny." Jack smirked at Sousa as his great-grandson played with the watch on his wrist.

"Danny? Huh." Was the only thing Daniel came up with as he watched an old friend acting like a goofy grandparent.

"Yeah, Grandpa had a friend called Daniel who saved his life a bunch of times when he was younger. Used to tell us stories all about Sousa and Carter and their adventures. We never believed him until we found out where he worked." Ruthy filled in nonchalantly, sitting on the opposite side of the table, digging through her bag to produce a water bottle for her son unaware of the look on Daniel's face. Jack smirked massively. "Here, Grandpa. I managed to grab that album from storage that you wanted." She handed across a large leather bound photo album to the older man, who flipped through a few pages.

"Here you go Daisy, you'll like this one." Jack smirked, that old charming smile creeping onto his face as he passed the now open book across to her, Daniel peering over her shoulder and scoffing.

"Woah." Ruth finally looked up, glancing at the photo and then back up to Daniel and back again. "Well. I cannot believe it took me that long. I knew you looked familiar. I thought it was just Quake that had me thinking that."

Daisy smirked. "You don't seem surprised?"

"Oh I've worked at Stark Industries for a long time, I'm so used to superheroes and weird tech not much surprises me anymore. You see Tony Stark walking round in Iron-Man pants one too many times and you get over stuff pretty quickly." She levelled Daniel with a look. "Time travel huh?"

"Yes. But I haven't seen these in literal years." He said his hand tapped a few photos. One from the first day of opening the first SHIELD base, Thompson and Howard Stark stood either side of Peggy and Daniel. Another of Peggy, Daniel and Rose throwing confetti at Jack's wedding. One of Daniel and Thompson with Peggy on her Wedding Day. An outtake of that one where Howard was attempting to jumping into frame and Jarvis dragging him out, while the three of them laughed lay below it.

He could still picture that party, he could hear the band playing, memories of Peggy dancing with Rogers, happy and content. He remembered how happy he was for her.

Daisy squeezed his knee beneath the table and brought him back to the present. He pressed a kiss to her temple and continued the conversation. They had coffee and cake and Rose shared her fudge. Daisy made lunch trolley roll across the room, making Jack's great-grandson shriek in delighted laughs and push it back into a position where she could do it again and again.

They left hours later and Daniel felt more settled than he had done in a long time. Daisy squeezed his hand as they drove away.

They'd return to visit every time they were in town, which was more often these days now SHIELD HQ was there, sometimes together, sometimes alone. They met all of both of their families, attended Ruth's 100th birthday. Brought presents for Daniel's namesake's birthday.

When Daisy and Daniel tied the knot, two reserved seats on the front row of the groom's side were filled my two of his oldest friends some of their families just a couple rows back. They 'snuck' them into new SHIELD HQ to see all the new tech and planes, the memorial wall that included people they'd known a lifetime ago.

Daniel loved the future, loved living his life alongside Daisy and her family. But knowing his friends were there, getting to spend time with them was an unexpected but valuable thing for him. It gave him a link to the past, someone to shoot the breeze with, with some similar experiences from the past. A taste of a previous life he was grateful for as he lived his new one.

[stevetonyweekly]

SteveTony Weekly - Week 9 - Sex Work

So today we’ve got a favorite trope of mine--

Sex Work! 

Weather it because of a misunderstanding and identity porn, or just life choices, there’s something delicious about sex work being what pulls Stevetony together. Here’s some of my favorites! 

The Billionaire Hooker's Deceived Artist by tsukinofaerii 

During Tony's senior year at MIT, his partying habit finally hit the edge of his parents' patience. When Howard and Maria cut him

off from his usual sources of money, he decides to turn to less conventional ones.

Indecent Proposal by sabrecmc 

One million dollars for one night. That could change your life.

How We Met by FestiveFerret

Life was pretty simple for Tony - work on his graduate thesis, hang out with his robotics projects in his unusual apartment, and fuck people for money. At least, it was simple until he met Steve Rogers.

Last Stop Before Malibu by justanotherrollingstony (adoctoraday) 

Steve stands under the hot sun, hoping that the next trucker to roll in will bring him enough money to eat tonight, enough to save a little, to get out of this place and go somewhere new.

What he doesn't expect, is to meet a man who changes everything.

When Tony leaves, Steve follows and finds a place in his home, his bed, and maybe, his heart.

Saffron by FestiveFerret

The club is called Saffron, but there's no sign outside to let you know that.

Stuck in a Rut by BladeoftheNebula

Captain America goes into a rut that's been a long time coming and SHIELD provides a professional omega to see him through it

the year you were mine by Areiton 

The night that changes his life forever, Steve is on a date with another man.

Or: Steve is a pricy escort and Tony buys him for a year. Neither of them are doing this for love.

[luna-rainbow]

Tony Stark fans are just something else. They are so determined for him to have some kind of monopoly on trauma so that they can use it as an excuse for his crappy actions.

Nobody *but nobody* can have as much trauma as him. They'll even go to the point of trying to change history, as I saw recently on a major Wiki, where they kept removing edits relating to Bucky's trauma.

Out of curiosity...how do we know it was Tony fans that were doing the edits?

A lot of people identify closely with Tony's specific type of trauma. The gifted child with parental neglect who, despite all material needs being met, struggle with lifelong issues of attachment and abandonment. This is why it was a bit silly to retcon Tony's mother back into the works when the first two movies suggested Tony's mother was absent and he had a father who was more interested in his work than his son -- the present and loving mother in CACW diluted the childhood neglect which had in some ways explained Tony's major flaws. In the comics Howard was an abusive alcoholic (while Maria was around but presumably couldn't protect Tony), which provides a different type of trauma that a lot of people identify with. That said, we never saw that facet in the MCU, neither Howard's alcoholism nor Tony's own.

I can't remember whether it was said of Trump or Musk, but I recently saw a commentary say that "at his core he just wants to be liked". And just like these two billionaire narcissists, Tony desperately wants to be liked. He's smart, rich, charismatic and a philanthropist, but deeply insecure about it, so he needs people to know and acknowledge him as such. He's still stuck in the mindset of pushing the boundaries, because his wealth and status meant boundaries had almost never applied to him. He's still finding his way in the world, and his (post Iron Man) mistakes come from a place of good intentions.

These are all characteristics that a lot of people identify with easily - especially the online crowd. Who doesn't have a bit of crippling insecurity, who doesn't fancy a bit of anti-authority snark, and who doesn't make well-meaning mistakes? This is especially true of the younger crowd because...let's face it, Tony is a teenager in a 40 year old body.

The problem when people identify too closely with their blorbos is that any criticism of the character suddenly feels like an attack against their own person. How dare you call Tony a selfish dick, don't you see he was neglected by his dad and he went through a horrible hostage situation in Afghanistan and he should be allowed to feel betrayed by Steve not telling him publicly available information!!!

[robertdowneyjjr]

a soulmates au where your words only show up after you’ve met your soulmate. sort of like an insurance policy, you know, so you’re not left wondering whether every other person you meet is the one if your words are too generic.

in this universe, captain america has been recovered and active for several years now. he runs missions and saves the world with his ragtag team of superheroes formed by SHIELD. steve's become a celebrity, which he doesn't love, but it's something he learns to live with because that's life for public figures in the 21st century.

tony never became iron man because he walked away from his father's legacy the second he turned 18. he and howard are still working on their relationship, but maria couldn't be prouder and tells tony so everyday. he built his own company from the ground up and it's thriving under his leadership. he's only marginally famous these days and he tries his best to stay out of the limelight, guarding his private life as much as possible. that's how it's been for twenty years and he's happy.

they meet on a day when steve is tired, irritable and angry. he's just returned from a mission where two of his teammates were injured because of the faulty information they received. he goes out on a walk to let off some steam and he's just slipping his phone back into his pocket after rejecting fury's fifth call for a debrief when he slams right into tony.

tony was having a good day. he'd just sent out a new set of designs and decided to reward himself for it. he goes and gets himself a fresh, delicious, life-affirming cup of coffee and is just stepping out of the cafe with aforementioned cup when a walking brick wall comes out of nowhere.

good news is, tony had ordered a cold brew. once every few weeks that's just what he's in the mood for and it had been one of those days. bad news is, instead of drinking it he is now wearing it.

sticky and cold and more than a little shocked, tony barely has time to recover and figure out what happened when steve starts tearing into him.

“god damn it, watch where the fuck you’re going! that could have spilled all over me! idiot!” steve yells at tony. and on a normal day, he’d be apologetic and he’d never curse like this at a stranger. but he really didn’t need yet another thing to go wrong today and he’s on a short fuse.

maybe later, when he’s calmed down, he’ll think back on the cute man with the giant brown eyes staring at him in disbelief and start beating himself up over how he behaved.

at the moment, all tony can do is look at steve’s pristine white t-shirt that somehow has not a single drop of coffee on it, then look back down at his own chest. he has no words except, “wow. you’re a fucking asshole.” and he just turns around and walks away.

tony gets home and strips off for a rinse before he gets ready for his flight to london for a week of meetings. all the while he can’t help but think that angry blond man looked vaguely familiar and he can’t place where he knows him from. he doesn’t notice the new string of words tattooed down the side of his thigh until he’s in his hotel room half a day later.

meanwhile, steve gets home after his walk, after he’s checked on his teammates, after sitting with fury for three long hours to debrief, and finally washes the day off of him. before he gets into the shower, he notices something different about his reflection.

along his left bicep are the words, wow. you’re a fucking asshole.

he thinks back on the cute man with the big brown eyes and a chest full of coffee and wonders how in the hell he can fix this mess.

[hollow-dweller]

Talk Shop Tuesday: is there a character you understand better than anyone else doss but haven’t written as much/at all?

as the Universe's Only Howard Stark Enjoyer, i am obligated to answer this with him.

Howard is so interesting to me, because the way he's constructed as a character is so clearly a reflection and response to Tony that narratively, you don't really get the sense that he was the progenitor, between the two of them. in the Iron Man movies, he is constructed as a foil for Tony: severe, business-like, and formal. he is unreachable, in a sense, a reflection of the ways Tony feels isolated from him: through death, through the tarnishing of his legacy that has been orchestrated by Obadiah but in which Tony is complicit, and through Tony's reckoning with and questioning of the value of that legacy in the first place. the Howard we see in those movies is heavily filtered through the lens of Tony's perception: the man who he feels completely isolated from and overshadowed by, who he at once venerates and dislikes, and yet who reaches through time, grudges and enemies carrying forward even as he leaves Tony with the tools to save his own life.

contrast that with the Howard we meet in Captain America: a playboy and genius, a little goofy, a lot self-important, written the way he is to create a clear connection in the mind of the audience between him and pre-Iron Man Tony Stark. it's narrative shorthand, characterization designed to help us bridge the gap between the Tony that we know and the Howard that we're meeting. but outside the meta-textual explanation, we also have to reconcile the Howard as we see him in Captain America, the Howard as we see him (heavily filtered through Tony's perspective) in the Iron Man movies, and Tony himself. in-universe, how do we explain the fact that Tony clearly remembers his father as austere and cold, but has emulated his devil-may-care behaviours and attitudes? if that is not the Howard that Tony remembers, why is that the Howard he mimics?

there are a number of potential explanations: maybe Tony met and knew the playboy Howard in his youth, but is obfuscating that in his own memory, either as a way to preserve his ideal of his father (cold, yes, but also powerful), or as a way to deny their similarities, or maybe simply as a way to honour his mother and pretend that that Howard never existed while he was with Maria. or maybe Tony never did meet that version of Howard, and it's a matter of inverted reflections: Howard moves so far in the opposite direction of who he was in his youth that when Tony constructs a rebellious identity in opposition to his father, he unknowingly mimics the behaviour of his father as he once was.

ideally, Agent Carter would have provided us the bridge between these versions of Howard, had it not been cancelled. we'll never know for sure, and while his character develops in fascinating ways in that show, he never quite escapes the shadow of Tony Stark 1.0. the part that really sticks with me, and has left me with the brain worms that inspired this sermon, is his role in season 1 in particular: his ruthlessness and manipulation in using Peggy, but also his genuine grief and desire for redemption as inspired by Steve. how he views Steve, Captain America, as the one truly Good thing he's ever done at that point, and how it connects to what we are told later, about his obsessive search for Steve and the way that isolated him from his own son. how that too is connected to what he says in Iron Man 2: that Tony is his greatest creation. the inherent selfishness but also deeply felt love evident in both those statements: love for Steve as a reflection of his desire for redemption, love for Tony as his assurance that he had in some way achieved it.

all told, you're left with a fascinating character built entirely from patchwork: imperfect and self-centered and yet idealistic, for whom we are missing key parts of the story from which to create a complete picture. in some ways i am not surprised that fandom often flattens both Howard and Tony's relationship to him, because we are missing essential elements to really conceive of Howard as a complete character. but it is also frustrating to me, because in those gaps i see opportunity: to explore Howard, yes, but also Tony, and their relationship to one another, and to the Stark legacy that permeates the world of the MCU.

having said ALL of that: do i see myself ever writing that story, or filling in those blanks myself? i honestly have no idea. i don't know how that story would be constructed, or what it would really entail. maybe if i ever get around to writing the Morgan Stark Fic, i'll slide some of this in there. but while i never say never, i'm also really not sure there's a dedicated Howard Stark Fic in me. i suppose we'll see.

[larcenywrites]

kinda random but headcanons about young!tony telling maria stark all about his girlfriend (maybe she was his best friend/childhood friend and then they fell in love and maria always teased them about how they'd make a cute couple) and maria teasing him about being a lovesick puppy but also being super happy about it + relationship advice from mama stark 🤧🥰 maybe her telling tony what she thinks of his girlfriend and everything 🥺👉👈

Tbh I like the idea of Tony and his s/o being cute childhood friends🥺 and this is already long but I feel like I have so much more I wanna say 😭 I hardly know what I said here honestly 😭 I focused a lot more on the childhood aspect ngl 😭

Word count: 1,909

Warnings: she/her terms and pronouns used | completely SFW |

💠You and Tony have been connected at the hip since childhood! Neighbors, both the only children in your families, same age— so of course you both got up to no good in the shared strip of grass between your homes! And eventually up to no good in each other's homes! 

💠Cue that video of that kid crying because the other kid said that she'd marry him 😂 That's pretty much little you and little Tony! Your Superman and Barbie were always married to his Batman and He-Man toys, and maybe you made him be the housewife when you played house in the kitchen 😌 And Maria was probably much more entertained with whatever love-betrayal-murder plot you two came up with on the living room floor than the daytime soaps on the tv 🤧

💠Especially if Maria is best friends with your parent/s, I'm sure she was the type to giggle about how their kids will grow up and get married 

💠He was ripping apart RC cars instead of playing with them in the driveway, or making you hold wires in place while he duct-taped them around a pipe. And Howard wasn't very happy when he started tearing television remotes apart, too… 

💠So when daddy dearest shipped him off to boarding school, summers and holidays were practically spent entirely together!

💠He always hid in your backyard when he was sent home early from boarding school for being difficult, and was oh-so-boastful about winning the fight that got him sent home early- that he didn't even start, by the way! He started hiding in your room on the days he had to go back, but he wasn't going to let you get in trouble for hiding him when now your parents were involved in the search too 😖

💠Every year, the same routine. Sometimes he came back a little taller, and sometimes he was leaving with a new haircut (of which you weren't afraid to let him know your opinion of it!) that would be grown back out by the time he returned, but one day, in particular, was different...

💠 He'd shown up at your window as per usual, right at the end of summer, finally tall enough to cross his arms over your windowsill without standing on his toes. 

💠 "I don't wanna go," he whined, squishing his cheek against his arm as he rested his head upon his crossed arms. 

💠"But you'll get in trouble," you argued back, meeting him at the window and standing on your knees, still looking down at him. 

💠"I'll get in trouble either way." He continued to pout, but you didn't let up either. 

💠"It's just one more year." But your plea was only met with a sigh.

💠"Here," you started decisively, tone making him turn towards you, still with his chin tucked over his arms. With a short bout of courage, you quickly leaned down before he could even realize, barely touching your lips to his in a child's-excuse-of-a-kiss that hardly lasted a second. "I'll wait for you to get back, okay?" You chirped reassuringly, fighting the heat under your cheeks.

💠Wide-eyed and red-faced, no longer slumped over crossed arms and tight-lipped, he could only nod cartoonishly. 

💠 You'd always thought he looked silly and a bit scrawny in his school uniform, but now he looked quite cute in those silly green shorts as he was finally heeding Jarvis' call from the car. 

💠Both fortunately and unfortunately, nothing special happened or changed once he came home, but as time passes, it's only natural for the two of you to get shy at close contact or steal glances during a round of Galaga or Mario, and maybe sitting a bit close for the thrill!

💠And Maria obviously notices! She doesn't play on the NES herself, but she enjoys watching! Or maybe just enjoys watching you guys 🤭

💠And later that night at dinner, she's definitely teasing Tony about how cute you two are, but even Howard comes to the poor blushing boy's rescue 😖

💠Remember that Tony went to college real early at 16, probably much to your secret bitterness and dismay 😒 but the worst was that, once again, he only came home on summers and winters and holidays 😔 where you got to hear all about his new friend and maybe felt a bit jealous 😔

💠But at least with his more formal education (and more trust from his dad), he was no longer so anarchic with his little science experiments! Sure, he'd always made little robots and been able to put anything back together with only minor issues, but now you were seeing him in a section of the paper with much larger robots and maybe feeling a bit silly now about holding the flashlight for him while he tore apart your family's backup generator 😅 

💠And maybe you leaned in a little too close on purpose when he was sketching out his blueprints to bring to class after spring break... hey, they are actually really good! 

💠Eventually those RC cars became real cars, and eventually he asked you out… with some help from his mom, of course. 

💠"Tony, when are you going to man up and ask (Y/N) out?" Maria asks one day.

💠"Huh?" He's genuinely confused and taken aback, looking over at his mom with furrowed brows.

💠"You heard me." 

💠"I don't think it's like that," he replies meekly, already blushing. 

💠"Didn't you say she kissed you?"

💠"Yeah, when we were like fourteen…" 

💠"And it doesn't seem anyone else is willing to hang out with you every day..."

💠"Should I be offended by that?" 

💠"You should be inspired."

💠Tony rolls his eyes a little, but it is already something he's thought about. Of course he's thought about it! And honestly, you've probably dropped some very frustratingly obvious hints 😖 and Tony isn't stupid. You know this, he knows this. Well, maybe he's a little more inept when it comes to social cues, but still! 

💠Maria has known you for nearly you're whole life, and she already adores you, so don't worry, she also talks all about how lovely you seem and how Tony should go for it! She's on your side! As soon as you leave, she'll have something to say!

💠And the longer Tony puts it off, the more she'll just downright be like, "Y/N was flirting with you, dummy!!!!" or "You guys are very cute 🥰"

💠Tony is frustrated not because he disagrees, but because he really doesn't know what to do and doesn't wanna look stupid :( Because, let's be honest, in this circumstance, he has 0 experience 🤧

💠After awkwardly trying and failing to ask you out in his garage one night, after fumbling to grab every tool and getting hit by the car's hood he didn't properly secure, and then became even more flustered after you grabbed onto his shoulders and head and asked if he was okay, he decided to begrudgingly ask his mom for help 😖

💠And gets even more embarrassed when she excitedly agrees 😓

💠"Yeah, yeah, yeah, just help me out here," he whines in a regional New York accent that he's probably mostly shed by now with his college career. 

💠And only many months later will Maria tell you about his red cheeks and scrunched nose as he asked 🤭

💠But!!! What she's saying... he already failed at a few days ago :( He tried asking you on a date during a casual hangout :( but he was already not doing himself many favors so he gave up and just let you go home with nothing more than a meek "see ya 🙂" 

💠His mom makes him feel a little better about it, especially when she says that you probably thought it was cute😊😊 and probably knew what was up anyway! But, uh, maybe still make sure you don't do that next time... have more confidence!

💠So... the next time you're both hanging out in his garage... he's probably puffing out his chest and flexing a bit 🤭 but when you do look, it does help his confidence! And that's the point! 

💠This time when you go to leave, he's still a bit flustered and stumbling through a few words, but he does manage to get out a "so, um... I was thinking maybe we should go somewhere... nicer? Next time? Maybe Friday?"

💠He becomes a bit squeaky at the end there, but it only helps him look cuter! Of course, you've been waiting on this for years, probably, so you can confidently smile back at him and tell him you'd love that- maybe even tell him that you have been waiting for him to ask!

💠Bonus points if you give him a little cheek kiss before you head home, kinda reminiscent of your silly little childhood kiss 🥰 And yes, Tony never forgot it 😘

💠Your confidence (and his lack thereof) definitely throws him off! But don't let his stiff demeanor fool you! He's very happy! And can't hide his grin when he head into his own house... which his mom instantly picks up on and may have been watching through the window 🤭

💠And might tease him about that little kiss 😘

💠But now... he has to actually plan the date 😨

💠First dates are always awkward (especially with your childhood friend!), but with some pretty flowers and surprisingly confident handholding, it goes well! 

💠Bonus points for another cheek kiss before you head inside your house after he drops you off 😘 

💠Either way, now he's hooked! 

💠Now, when you lean over the edge of the car to look under the hood and huddle close to him, he can't help but smile all giddy and sneak a kiss 🥺 because now he's allowed to and now he's super cute 😭

💠He used to always keep it to himself, but now when he calls his mom every week from school like usual, he can't help but complain about being bored without you 🥺 only for Rhodey to scoff offendedly behind him loud enough for Maria to hear 😭 

💠And you know Rhodey got an earful when Tony returned from Summer break talking about his new girlfriend 😘

💠And you also know that when Tony calls you from school, Rhodes is waiting not only to make his own calls, but 7 out of 10 times waiting to make kissy noises and aws every time Tony says he misses you or anything along those lines 🥰 The other times, Rhodey does give you guys some peace and quiet, but sometimes him being there for the call is fun too! 

💠But even when he is home, and even if you were just over yesterday or earlier that day, Maria can tell he's bummed ☹️

💠But honestly it does kinda make her happy! Her son is in love!! But she can't help but tease him about being all lovesick 🥰🥰 There's probably a picture somewhere of him pouting at the breakfast table, but he'll brush it off as him being tired 😤

💠The two of them being close is, believe it or not, a good thing for you! Sure, Maria is protective of her son, but she's also protective of you! Moreso when it comes to your relationship with Tony! 

💠If Tony comes to confide in her about an argument, whether or not he's in the wrong, she's telling him how to fix it 🤧 and sending him with flowers 💐

[gunsandspaceships]

About Different Universes

Often I see how fans cannot distinguish different versions of a character. For example, many think that MCU Tony and 616 Tony can be considered the same person. This is completely wrong.

We should remember that they are completely separate characters, because they had completely different lives. They do look different, they do act different. They had different parents (different by behavior, but sometimes even genetically, like Tony in MCU is a biological child of Howard and Maria Stark, but 616 Tony was adopted by them). They lived in different times, met different people, had relationships with different partners, had different problems, different illnesses, injuries etc. They are completely different, that's the point of the Multiverse. There are an infinite number of different Tonys.

We cannot use Tony's traits from one universe and put it on him in another. That doesn't work like this. Otherwise we could just take the fact that Tony never had children in comics and ask why he has a daughter in MCU? Or take the fact that Tony in 616 has blue eyes. Why in MCU he has brown ones? Or let's take something more psychologically related - in 616 he still dates many women, despite him being responsible superhero and stuff. He just can't stop being polygamous, I guess? But that's not the case in MCU. He is very loyal to one person. Same for Tony's version from What If season 2, episode 4, where he doesn’t care about other women around, he is just trying to get back to Pepper.

There is absolutely no sense in bringing one character into another, even if they share a name.

[themculibrary]

Howard/Maria Stark Masterlist

12.16.1991 (ao3) - MelissaBosquez howard/maria, pepper/tony G, 213k

Summary: On December 16th, 1991 Howard and Maria Stark were killed in a tragic car accident. Or at least that's what their son and the world is left to believe. 25 years later, Helmut Zemo lures Tony, Steve and Bucky into a Siberian Hydra base to reunite a family...and use The Winter Soldier to destroy it once and for all.

OR

Howard and Maria were kidnapped by The Winter Soldier and forced to work for Hydra. Through a turn of events they are reunited with Tony, and Howard sets out to make good on the promise he made to himself when he was captured...to begin the long road of making amends with his son.

Ave Maria (ao3) - TheSovereigntyofReality G, 22k

Summary: Howard Stark meets a new secretary, Maria Collins Carbonell.

Desert Glass (ao3) - nicasio_silang M, 4k

Summary: Her father still isn't home. Her mother is dead, but Maria has her scarlet red lipstick, and her dark, clever eyes. She's made herself a ham and cucumber sandwich; she lies on her bed and takes small bites upside-down, the fission book splayed open across her stomach. She considers the life of the spy Howard thinks she is.

Important (ao3) - finx G, 594

Summary: The tale of Howard Stark and Maria Carbonell, and the child they left behind.

Is This A Matter Of Worse Or Of Better? (ao3) - myrmidryad N/R, 9k

Summary: Howard designs weapons and various other things she doesn’t understand for the government and the military, and Maria helps the people his wars leave behind, hurt and alone.

There is no symbolism in their respective careers at all.

Maria (ao3) - orphan_account T, 1k

Summary: Maria’s voice had long since lost the Italian accent from when she came to America. She had been bright and young, looking for a better future than plucking the grapes on a lazy day at the estate in Italy and managing the shipments of wine, but her carefully laid out plan had gone off the rails when she had met Howard.

She didn’t know if she regretted it yet.

(written for the bad things happen bingo, prompt: domestic abuse)

Maria Stark (ao3) - DragonGoesMoo T, 871

Summary: Just a short story about Maria Stark's relationship with her husband before and after Tony is born.

one more drink and i'll be fine (ao3) - irnan G, 2k

Summary: Maria Carbonell is too Italian to be a New Yorker and too American to ever be able to come home.

Parental Guidance (ao3) - FriendLey T, 16k

Summary: What if Howard and Maria Stark never died but are bored, retired parents worrying over Tony and nagging him to finally marry that charming girl Virginia, bring home some friends who is not just composed of Rhodey, and for crying out loud when is he going to give them grandchildren?

Promises to Keep (ao3) - blakefancier G, 366

Summary: Howard has made a lot of promises in his life. Some he's kept, others have been more difficult.

shooting the moon (ao3) - writerlily G, 3k

Summary: She meets him at a bar where she's far too young to be at. The girls had dragged her out for a night of fun, slabbing on makeup and bright red lipsticks, with outfits and heels that would make their mothers faint. Her group of girls have already dispersed around the bar to talk to men with a kind of sex appeal Maria thinks she lacks.

Stark Family Moments (ao3) - Ana (Anafandom) G, 9k

Summary: Random bits of Stark family interactions.

The Ballad of Howard and Maria (ao3) - StarkTony1 T, 3k

Summary: Snippets of how Howard and Maria got together

the circle ends. (ao3) - arabellagaleotti T, 17k

Summary: “What is your mission?” Madame asks her a week later, in a empty airport terminal.

Mariya laughs. It is high and delicate and when she bats her eyelashes right after it looks simpering and sweet, “to make Howard Stark fall in love with me.”

OR,

Maria Stark was born Mariya Chernov, from Russia. She was raised and trained in the Red Room.

Maria Stark was not just a housewife.

the silver age (ao3) - copperbadge howard/maria, anna/jarvis, bucky/tony, peggy/angie T/E/G, 87k

Summary: An alternate universe in which Tony Stark was born in 1950 and the Winter Soldier was recovered in 1967, after a failed attempt to assassinate Howard and Maria Stark.

The Woman King (ao3) - Zelos T, 2k

Summary: She could not pull him from the ocean, but she could, however little, from however far away, anchor him to shore.

Maria Stark, and why she stayed.

Where Ignorance is Bliss (ao3) - nowayhome howard/maria, obidiah/maria, carol/maria, peggy/daniel, ana/edwin T, 27k

Summary: Maria Collins Carbonell is a young woman in a man's world, fresh out of college and ready to take on the '60s with Obadiah Stane on her arm, until she meets an older and mysterious Howard Stark - who's on his way to change the world, and he wants to take her with him.

You know who I am (ao3) - feyrelay T, 1k

Summary: Basically, Howard Stark and Maria Collins Carbonell are made for each other, for all that he doesn’t deserve her.

[swayhere]

canon starter call - open to anyone !

i have a strong urge to write some canon muses, so if you would be interested in writing against any of the canon muses listed under the READ MORE below, please comment/IM me and i can send a starter your way or reply to one of your starters.

i do not require you to know anything about my muse's canon, but i'm more than happy to tell you about it if you ask. i'd be happy to write canon muses against your ocs! also, mixing fandoms is 100% ok with me unless your canon muse is problematic and makes me uncomfy. my canon muses do not have all their memories or relationships from their life unless we plot it, but they will have the same general personality/ambitions.

if you are willing to write against my canon muses but don't care which, just like this post, and i'll take a look at your open starters and/or send you a closed starter at random with a muse i think fits the vibe.

*please don't agree to write against my canon muses if you're one of those picky weirdos that will be up in arms if i don't write a cannon muse exactly how you would.

( if you'd prefer to write against an oc muse only, check this post. )

canon muses i'd like to write: bold = extra big muse rn. strikethrough = exclusive, so not rn.

muses from tv shows: 

911 — eddie diaz , evan buckley , athena grant , bobby nash , karen wilson

911: lonestar — carlos reyes , grace ryder , judson ryder , t.k. strand , owen strand

as the world turns — dr. reid oliver , luke snyder

boy meets world — shawn hunter , jack hunter , angela moore , topanga lawrence

chuck — sarah walker , chuck bartowski , bryce larkin 

degrassi — jimmy brooks , sean cameron , ellie nash , marco del rossi , sav bhandari , drew torres , zoe rivas , miles hollingsworth iii , tiny bell , esme song , 

gilmore girls — jess , luke

good trouble — gael martinez , jamie hunter , callie adams foster , mariana adams foster , evan speck , joaquin perez , dennis cooper 

how i met your father — sid , ian , sophie , jesse

how i met your mother — marshall eriksen , lily aldrin , victoria

how to get away with murder — laurel castillo , connor walsh , oliver hampton , michaela pratt , frank delfino 

jessica jones — jessica jones

lost — kate austen , juliet burke , daniel faraday , desmond hume , sayid jarrah , sun-hwa kwon , claire littleton , walter ‘walt’ lloyd , charlie pace , hugo ‘hurley’ reyes , shannon rutherford , miles straume 

new amsterdam — lauren bloom , elizabeth wilder , casey acosta

new girl — nick miller , winston bishop , cece parekh

one tree hill — nathan scott , lucas scott , keith scott , chase adams , brooke davis 

outer banks (obx) — jj maybank , kiara carrera

please like me — arnold 

rosewell, new mexico — michael guerin , maria deluca , isobel evans

scandal — olivia pope , prezzy fitz

scooby doo — daphne blake

stranger things — robin buckley , steve harrington , jim hopper , chrissy cunningham , eddie munson , max mayfield , eleven , mike wheeler 

superstore — jonah simms

the 100 — finn collins

the bear — richie jerimovich, carmy berzatto , marcus , sydney adamu  

the mindy project — danny castellano 

the office — ryan howard , jim halpert , pam halpert , kelly kapoor , holly flax

the politician — river barkley , astrid sloan 

the young & the restless — sally spectra , adam newman , chelsea lawson , phyllis summers , lily winters , sharon newman , chance chancellor , victoria newman , tessa porter , amanda sinclair , cole howard

younger — josh , kelsey peters

muses from books: 

along for the ride ( book version only ) — eli stock , auden west , maggie  

one of us is lying ( book version only ) — cooper clay , nate

red white & royal blue — alex claremont-diaz , prince henry , zahra bankston

we were liars — gatwick ‘gat’ matthew patil

muses from movies: 

dead poets society — neil perry , charlie dalton , todd anderson

harry potter — lee jordan

les mis — enjolras , grantaire 

super 8 — joe lamb , martin , preston

twilight — irina denali , jasper cullen

[queen-of-the-avengers]

Captain Marvel: Final Part

Pairing: Carol Danvers x Female!Reader

Word Count: ~1.2k

Warnings: canon violence and angst

Author’s Note: For the sake of the rewrite, Howard and Maria Stark dies on December 16, 1997 instead of 1991. Tony is 23 when they die.

x

With the Skrulls now saved from the Kree, at least for right now, you and Carol met Maria and Fury back at Maria's house for a last-dinner kind of thing. Most of the Skrulls decided to go back to Mar-Vell's lab to prepare to move again while Talos, Soren, and their child join you back at Maria's house. She did a really good job flying the plane to avoid whatever Kree was on her ass, and Fury won't let her forget it.

"That's some nifty flying you did out there. SHIELD could always use a good pilot like you."

"I'll consider it, as long as you don't call my flying nifty again."

Fury's eye is all scratched that you assume came from Goose.

"How's your eye?" you question the agent.

"Getting better every second. I'll be fine."

"Is it true that Goose scratched your eye?"

"I will neither deny nor confirm the details of that story."

"She did. I saw it happen," Maria confesses, making you cackle.

"Just so I'm clear, you were Soh-Larr and the SHIELD agent?" Carol asks Talos.

"Yeah, he tied my boss up and stole his identity," Fury interjects, ignoring your teasing remarks about how a cat got the better of him.

"I borrowed his likeness. I'm no thief."

"It's a little like a thief," Soren shrugs.

"Whose side are you on?"

"You're good to go here until you recover, but you and your family will need a new look."

"I could go back to being your boss."

"Please don't."

"Come on. I love sporting his beautiful blue eyes."

"I'll help you find a home and finish what Mar-Vell started," Carol offers.

You open your mouth to agree but nothing comes out of it. First, you think about Bucky and Steve and how you left this planet to get away from the pain it caused you, but then you think about how you promised yourself that this would be your new home away from Xenia and Markus. You fled once, you can't do this to Earth again. It needs protecting, and who will protect it if you leave?

"They can stay here with us, can't they, Mom?" Monica asks from the stairs where she and Talos' daughter are.

"They won't be safe here, baby. Auntie Carol is right. They need their own home."

"I'll be back before you know it," she says.

"Excuse me," you whisper.

You grab your plate of unfinished food and walk into the kitchen to do the dishes. Carol and Fury look at each other before getting up and doing the same. Leaving Carol behind and staying on Earth hurts differently than when you lost Bucky. Bucky died and you didn't have a choice but to move on with your life. You're deciding to leave even though it hurts you to do so.

"Are you okay?" Carol asks.

"Yeah."

"Let me help you with that," Fury offers and takes the wet dishes to dry.

He notices dry tears on your cheeks and gestures to Carol to talk to you.

"We beat the Kree and Ronan. What's wrong?"

"I don't know if I can go with you when you leave," you whisper.

This is a conversation to have privately so she puts it on the back burner for now. She rubs your back in a comforting way and takes out the pager that she took from Fury. She's modified it a bit so that he can always contact her whenever she may be.

"Here, there is something I want you to have. Plus, I need you to keep the Tesseract hidden here on Earth." She hands him the pager. "I upgraded it. The range should be a couple of galaxies, at least. For emergencies only."

"What? Do you think I'm gonna crank call you?"

"For emergencies only. From the looks of it, you'll have Y/N in case something goes wrong."

"Well, if you're ever passing back through this galaxy, be sure to give a brother a shout," he says. "I can finish up here. You two can take off."

"Come on."

Carol takes you outside to have a private conversation with you. She knows what you're going to say but lets you say it anyways.

"As much as I want to go with you, I can't leave Earth. The universe needs you, Carol but Earth needs me. The Tesseract is here, so someone is going to come for it sooner or later. She'll need someone to protect it."

"I agree."

"I'd be too selfish if I kept you from everyone else," you sigh sadly, "but I don't want to leave you. I love you."

"I love you, too. I'm not asking you to choose but I do have to leave. I can't stay on this planet knowing wars are going on out there that I can help fight."

"I know."

She pulls you in for a hug and allows you to cry on her shoulder for however long you need. 

"This doesn't change anything between us. I want you to live your life. I don't know when I'll be back, but I don't want you to be lonely. I want you to meet someone, fall in love, and live your life. You'll always have a special place in my heart."

"So will you," you sniffle and pull away from her.

"If we are meant to be, we'll find our way back to each other. I can guarantee that."

"I should go, then. I wish you the best of luck, my love."

"Same here."

You kiss her one last time knowing this will be the last in a while. If you stay any longer, you're going to cry so you pull away from her and take off toad the sky. With no viable threat over your life, you can pick a place and settle down. You haven't had a home for at least fifty years.

New York has too many painful memories and London reminds you of Bucky. When you first came to Earth with Carol, you landed in Northern California. The beaches there are beautiful so maybe living in that state won't be such a bad thing. You can get a place along the beach and enjoy your life by yourself.

Malibu is nice this time of year, and you settle in quicker than you thought you were. You have a bit of money saved from the 40s that you never got to spend, so you use it to buy yourself a house on the beach. The town of Malibu is compact and busy but you don't mind being surrounded by this many people. It gives you an opportunity to learn about humans from what you missed over the years.

It takes a week after moving in to explore the town, so you're walking along the coast when you pass by a tall man sporting white hair and a mustache and a shorter woman with blonde hair.

"Y/N?" 

You stop and face the couple with a confused look on your face.

"Yes. Do I know you?"

"It's me. Howard Stark."

"Howard? Wow, you've grown."

"You stayed exactly the same."

Hearing him say this makes you a bit sad knowing you'll probably never grow old. You'll always be the same age as you were when you first injected Markus' serum.

"Well, you know..."

"Wait, I thought you died. I thought you and Steve died when the plane went down. We searched for you two for months after the wreck."

"Steve died. I left Earth for fifty years."

"She's the one you were talking about?" Howard's wife says. "She's the Avatar?"

"That's me," you shrug.

"What are you doing here?"

"I bought a place on the beach. I spent the last sixty years fighting in wars I shouldn't have been fighting in. I figured what harm will it do if I take a few years to myself. What have you been up to?"

"I'm retired now. I have a few billion dollars to my name. I got married and had a son. Would you like to meet him?"

"Of course."

Howard and his wife, Maria, take you back to their house where their young adult son is.

"Tony? Come down here. There's someone I want you to meet." Tony comes down the stairs with a bored expression on his face. "Tony, this is Y/N."

Tony's heard the stories his father used to tell about a righteous man with super strength and a woman who can control the elements. He didn't think those stories were true until he sees you. There are very few pictures of Howard back in the day, but some of them contain you and Steve.

"Is this the same Y/N that you worked with back then? The one with Steve?"

If you're going to be in Tony's life, then he has a right to know exactly who you are.

"Yes, it is." You stick your hand out for him to shake, and you give him a polite smile. "It's very nice to meet you, Tony."

x

Follow my library blog @aqueenslibrary​​​​​​ where I reblog all my stories, so you can put notifications on there without the extra stuff :)

[iam93percentstardust]

🎄 Another sneak peek at the annual Christmas fic! 🎄

~

“Look,” Christine says gently as soon as the door closes. “Tony. I don’t think this is working out between us anymore. I think we need to call off the engagement.”

She can’t be serious. They’ve had a great relationship (okay, well maybe not a great relationship, but definitely a good one) for five years, and she fucks off to rural Montana for a week and decides that she doesn’t want this anymore? No way, this has something to do with Jake the flannel mountain.

She’s still talking, saying something about how she doesn’t feel like he’s ever really supported her hopes and dreams, which is absolutely ridiculous and he tells her that.

“You met your editor at a business dinner that I hosted. I invited him just because you said it was your life’s goal to work at that magazine. Did you forget that? Did you forget that your job is in New York? What are you going to tell them when your vacation time is up?”

She gives him a vaguely pitying look that makes him want to throw something. Possibly her. “Tony, there’s more to life than just your job and work. Not that you’d know that because you spend all your time in that workshop of yours.”

Like what? The vacations she wants to go on that he’s always made time for? The clothes she wants him to buy for her that he always does because he wants her to be happy? The date nights that he always leaves the workshop for, no matter how busy he is, because she gets so sad when he forgets about them and he hates it when she looks that way?

He asks her exactly that, genuinely curious to know what more she could possibly want out of him. “What else is there?”

“That’s so sad that you think that’s all there is,” she says, and that wasn’t his point at all, but before he can say that, she continues, “Like Christmas, Tony. You know, we’ve never once celebrated the holidays together? How are you okay with that?”

Well, yeah, they’ve never celebrated together. Growing up, Christmas, for Tony, was a time of photoshoots and Howard locking himself in his office for last-minute business deals before the end of the year and getting left behind as his parents drove off to yet another rich people’s Christmas party. Christmas wasn’t a time of joy and family, and he’s had no reason to change that as an adult. Christine had always said that was one of the things that she liked about him because it gave her a chance to get one up on her coworkers who always took the holiday off.

“Christmas is important, Tony. Jake spends every Christmas volunteering at the animal shelter to give the unadopted animals the best holiday they could have. And you just spend it in the office.”

Sure, but the Maria Stark Foundation’s Holiday Gala raises enough money every year to keep the New York soup kitchens fully stocked for at least six months, so he thinks he’s doing pretty well on the charity front.

“I know we used to have the same values,” she says. “But I’ve changed since I met Jake again.”

He has the sneaking suspicion that she’s getting ready to justify the fact that she absolutely cheated on him this last week.

“He gets me, and he loves me, more than I think you ever did.”

Wow. That one really hurts. He has done so much for her, but because he couldn’t fly out with her this one time, he suddenly doesn’t love her. What right does she have to tell him his own feelings?

“He makes me so much happier than I was with you.”

“I get it,” he says abruptly. “You don’t have to twist the knife. He’s perfect and everything you ever wanted, and I’m not. I get it.” He pauses and takes a deep breath. He can be mature about this. He can be a grown-up about this, just like Pepper is always begging him to be. “I only wish you the best of happiness with Jake. I hope you guys build a great life together.”

Tears shine in Christine’s eyes, which is so unfair. Tony’s the one who’s getting dumped. He should be the one crying. “Aw, thank you, Tony. Your blessing means the world to me.”

Yeah, that is absolutely not what’s going on here, but sure, anything to get him out of this situation faster, because if he has to stand here for any longer, he’s absolutely going to break down about the fact that his fiancée cheated on him, moved halfway across the country without telling him, and then dumped him all because he… doesn’t celebrate Christmas?

[kandisheek]

FIC REC WEEK 9 – AUs

By Guidance of the Stars by GuardianMira

Pairing: Steve/Tony Rating: E Words: 28,299 Tags: Space AU, Soulmates, Getting Together

Summary: Steve is a space outlaw and Tony is a blue-skinned alien prince who stows away on his ship. According to Steve’s Mark, they’re soulmates. Too bad Steve doesn’t know Tony’s full name and Tony doesn’t know soulmates are a thing for humans. Maybe they’ll work it out once people stop shooting at them.

Reasons why I love it: Tony the blue skinned alien makes me happier than I can say. Mix in some secret identity soulmate shenanigans, and I'm beyond thrilled. Then have them go on adorable space dates and slowly grow closer before the big reveal, and you get a very happy Kandi. This fic has everything I love and more, and I bet you'll like it just as much as I did!

The Billionaire Hooker's Deceived Artist by tsukinofaerii

Pairing: Steve/Tony Rating: E Words: 27,996 Tags: Sex Work, Artist Steve, College AU

Summary: During Tony's senior year at MIT, his partying habit finally hit the edge of his parents' patience. When Howard and Maria cut him off from his usual sources of money, he decides to turn to less conventional ones.

Reasons why I love it: Steve in this fic is so fucking precious, and Tony is such a little shit - my favorite combo. This whole scenario they get themselves into feels very true to their characters (I bet if Tony was ever cut off by Howard, this is exactly what he would do), and I love the way it keeps escalating. Also, the timeskip is incredible, it elevates the whole fic to another level. I love it so much, please go and check it out, you won't regret it!

Punitive Measures (Met your Match) by BladeoftheNebula

Pairing: Steve/Tony Rating: E Words: 19,403 Tags: A/B/O (Alpha Steve, Omega Tony), Roman Britain, Painplay

Summary: “Gods, he’s a beast,” Tiberius said from beside him, and for a moment, Tony had forgotten he was there. “I don’t envy the omegas, he looks like he’d have a strong hand.”When the village elders bring in someone from the outside to fairly administer justice in the community, the alphas leap at the chance to send their unruly omegas to the Flagellator. Tiberius Stone can't understand why his omega keeps acting up so much.

Reasons why I love it: Steve "The Flagellator" Rogers has my entire heart. Once again, Neb built an incredible alternate universe here, with a really cool take on how the whole Alpha/Omega dynamic works. The concept of external punishment is really neat, and I love the way it brings Steve and Tony together. Plus, the ending makes me "aww" out loud every time. I love this fic to bits, so I hope you'll give it a shot yourself!