#its like of poetic and sad but yk whatevess

[ad1thi]

Your Pain (is my burden to bear):  P4

hey so i hit 100 followers!!

i asked y’all what you wanted me to write for this and i got italian!tony and soulmate!au so here it is!!

(this picks up exactly where P3 ended)

--

Tony’s first reaction, understandably, is to lift the gauntlet he’d been fiddling with and repulsor the fuck out of the man standing in front of him. 

What he isn’t expecting is to feel the burn on his lower abdomen, even as the figure in front of him crumples against the force of the blast.

it takes about 2 seconds for everything to fall into place, and Tony groans as he hides between his sofa

oh per l'amor di dio, he thinks, before pushing himself off the ground and pointing the engaged repulsor at his soulmate

to his credit, his soulmate doesn’t attempt to come near Tony again, just stands there

togliti la tua attrezzatura, tony says (before inwardly cursing) and repeating,”take off your gear”

Titling his head in confusion(? Tony isn’t sure because of the whole ninja mask he’s got going on)- his soulmate lightly runs his fingers over multiple buckles and shrugs it off to reveal a metal arm and-

qualcuno lassù deve veramente odiarmi, tony mutters as he takes in the intricate workings of his arc reactor displayed across the man’s admittedly gorgeous chest

“Natalie darling,” Tony raises his voice only an inflexion, knowing that JARVIS will carry his message, “you might want to drop your SHIELD fursona and join me in the living room. My soulmate just dropped in for a visit.”

It’s all he manages to get out before he abruptly falls to the floor, palladium poisoning coursing through his veins and making him feel. 

The last thing he remembers before hitting the ground is watching his soulmate rush towards him, and the odd sensation of fingers running lightly through his hair

--

James is unclear why his soulmate wilfully hurt himself, and why he insists on switching between italian and english in some inane way; but he’s willing to play along to his soulmate’s games 

When the repulsor is aimed at him a second time, he belatedly realises that his soulmate might not know who he is

(in hindsight, the mask covering his face no longer seems like a good idea)

While a small part of him preens at the idea that his soulmate was able to knock him back, the much larger part of him is debating picking up his pint-sized soulmate and carting him off to that workshop he saw in the blueprints and insisting that he work on the thing in his chest

arc reactor, he reminds himself, like the one powering the warehouse, but smaller

James has to routinely remind himself that his soulmate didn’t have the privilege of staying in a backwater flat in Romania and studying his soulmark until he figured out who it belonged to, and that James had the distinct advantage of knowing his soulmate was Tony Stark

(while all tony stark knew about james was that he died falling off a train)

He reminds himself of this when his soulmate asks him to strip (and bites his tongue on the comment that his soulmate owes him dinner first)

He reminds himself of this when his soulmate chooses to inform someone else of his existence

but he completely forgets it when his soulmate doubles over and also hits the floor

James reacts instinctively, falling to his knees and outstretching his flesh arm to cup Tony’s head- before delicately placing his head on his shoulder and running his fingers through his hair

From this angle, James can see the criss cross effect of the poisoning mapping itself against his soulmate’s neck, and valiantly resists the urge to kiss down his neck and leave marks of his own

None of this however, distracts him from the near silent set of footsteps making it’s way over to them and steadily making him prick with uncertainty

His hand is on his gun as the footsteps grow louder, and when he hears the hushed, Yasha? he doesn’t even think- just shoots

what was his soulmate thinking, calling a black widow?

tbc

Part 3