Iron Will, Iron Heart: Conductivity

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

Blast. Recharge. Blast. Recharge. Blast Set up the fresh targets.

That had been Tony Stark's refrain for the last three days. The first day was dedicated solely to holding it as far from the hotel as humanly possible into the most remote desert location possible. Himself and his new toys, all alone. And the tent. There was no scenario where he wouldn't take that for the ride.

The plasma auto rifle--today's plaything--boasted rapid fire and plasma grenades. With nothing but sand, rock, and dust for miles, Tony was free to let loose. For the bigger blasts, Tony activated his armor--which was up to several minutes of stability at a time. With a sigh, the time limit ran out and he was left in his tank and fatigues bottoms. Adjusting it to the stun setting, he took aim at the few remaining targets.

Comments

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

"Not that. Not being able to brag it up." Tony mirrored Thor's gesture. "Show you off. You know."

[st_ormbreaker]

Thor's reaction is immediate. "You want to show me off?" he asks, squinting. "I don't have a problem with it, but I always thought you weren't interested in --"

Thor gestures vaguely. What do you even call that?

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

"Interested in what? Being proud of whoever I've got on my arm?" When he and Pepper first became steady, Tony wouldn't shut up about it. Rhodey never failed to remind him of this fact. "Call me self-indulgent, because I am. Relax about it."

[st_ormbreaker]

That draws a full grin out of Thor. He really didn't think that Tony was interested in this becoming public knowledge, which is why he limited his gushing to his brother, which... in hindsight, was probably weird for Loki. But who else could he tell?

"You know I won't be able to shut up about my charismatic genius billionaire boyfriend, right?"

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

"As long as you leave the dirty laundry where it belongs. Same goes for me. We're both adults. Adult and a God the age of the Hagia Sophia." Tony swayed against him. "Agreed?"

[st_ormbreaker]

"I don't know about the Hagia Sophia stuff, but I think I grasp everything else," Thor says. "Agreed."

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

"Good boy." Tony tapped Thor's nose with a cooing lilt to his voice, as if the man really were a dog.

"Stay the night. I'll divulge the details in the evening and we'll go from there."

[st_ormbreaker]

Thor is not about to object to the invitation, especially after three days away from him. It was strange; he had spent two years sequestered away from the man and endured it well enough. Now he found himself going a little crazy without his company after a day and a half.

Thor supposed that that should be disconcerting, but he found he was strangely okay with that. He'd always felt strongly about things, in ways that probably seemed disproportionate to other people. But Thor didn't really mind that, either. Sure, there were times where he wished he could keep his temper in check, but even that had improved over the past decade. The only thing that felt truly strange to him was how much he'd grown since he first arrived on Midgard ten years ago. It was as if he had achieved adulthood on Asgard and stagnated there for a good almost-1500 years. He was glad that he changed (for the better, he was certain), but he wished that it'd happened before now.

Thor naturally finds himself looking for things to do around the campsite: he organizes the food, straightens Tony's sleeping bag, fools around with the lights that don't really need fooling around with. To anyone who knew Thor when he was younger, the scene would come across as uncharacteristically domestic, but a few years with Jane had changed things. He found comfort in doing these small things -- small things he never had to do for anyone, let alone himself when he was back in Asgard.

Before long, he runs out of ways to keep himself busy, and excuses himself to gather more firewood, even though there's ample enough wood for the night. It should feel weird using Stormbreaker for something so ordinary. Birthed in the forges of Nidavellir, and here he was, using it to break down firewood.

Before long, the firewood is gathered, and Thor finds himself sitting at the fire, eating one of the Pop Tarts he'd left for Tony but had, with Tony's invitation, become Pop Tarts for the both of them.

"What were you doing out here?" he asks of Tony after he's devoured most of his strawberry-flavored Pop Tart. "Just practicing your aim?"

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

There was nothing like a session of tinkering--deconstruction, reconstruction, however repetitive to put Tony in a zen mood. The thermal imaging system on the Mag-Charger was growing more impressive each time Tony got into it, now able to pin point heat signatures several miles away.

"Practicing my aim. Keeping my hands busy. Weapons development away from any warm bodies or squawking."

[st_ormbreaker]

"No breaks?" Thor asks after he's finished Pop Tart number one. "Have you been sleeping?"

Thor knows, even though Thor is out like a rock almost as soon as his head hits the pillow, that Tony doesn't sleep much if at all. And Thor is pretty sure that if he didn't crash at Loki's these past few days, even he wouldn't be sleeping.

So Tony? Probably not sleeping. But even though Thor knows the answer, he asks it anyway and watches Tony as he starts his second Pop Tart.

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

Up went the armor. The half-hour mark hit and it was time to start the Stability Timer.

"As much as I'm used to. Do not start unless you want some spiel about processed sugar and erectile dysfunction." What was it about Tony, Asgardians, and performance issue cracks?

[st_ormbreaker]

"I am permitted to have my vices," Thor says, somewhat indignantly. "You do know when I ask you these things it's out of concern, right?"

Thor takes a second bite of his Pop Tart. "I think we already established what you mean to me earlier."

Still, he's willing to drop the subject entirely in lieu of another. "Are you worried about there being another attack?" It might explain Tony's obsession with his weaponry, at least.

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

"Hm." Came his sole reply to the former. It wasn't much, but he had shut up with the petty rebukes.

"A little something you need to know about the man who's ensnared you in his web, Point Break. Ever since New York, there hasn't been a moment I haven't been worried. I got lazy away from home, the attack was another wake-up call."

[st_ormbreaker]

"I don't know if I'd call letting yourself take a breather lazy, but I think I get what you mean."

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

"Superheroes don't get breathers." Iron Man gestured at himself. "We get lazy. That's changed."

[st_ormbreaker]

"There's not much that I can do here," Thor says. "But even before anyone else showed up, I resolved to take care of myself so thjat when I returned home, I would be in the best condition I could be in to find and kill Thanos."

Thor finishes his Pop Tart, then balls up his Pop Tart wrapper with an audible crinkle, then lets out a tremendous yawn.

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

"It takes running at full tilt just to stay in place, babe." The armor deformed and reformed in a few rough, inch-long patches along his body. "Tired?"

[st_ormbreaker]

"I'm not sure I agree," Thor says, watching Tony's armor. "But that's just me."

Thor stretches his legs out in front of him. "I'm a little tired, but I'm not hitting the sack yet."

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

In a flash, Tony was simply Tony again in his tank top and fatigues. "My bad, by the way. For not being forthcoming about Avengers business. You deserve to know."

[st_ormbreaker]

"Are you up to actually talking about it?" he asks without judgment.

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

"As I'll ever be." Tony paused, tapping his fingers on his knees. "You can decide how much you love me afterwards."

[st_ormbreaker]

Thor gets up and stuffs his wrapper in the trash. He sits down next to Tony and wordlessly puts his hand down on top of one of his.

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

The warmth and weight of Thor's hand atop his was reassuring, though it didn't wash away the doubt. Tony knew what side the man would have fallen on on an instinctual level.

"Hand to heart." Tony held Thor's gaze. "Everything I did, I did it to protect us." Like Ultron. Like Iron Man himself. "For what little that matters anymore."

[st_ormbreaker]

"I believe you," he says. Tony had done some astronomically stupid things sometimes -- Ultron being one of them. But Thor never doubted that he did those things out of a desire to protect others. Even if sometimes they made him want to literally throttle the man.

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

"Government wanted to get involved after Sokovia." The best way to go about this was ripping the bandaid off--he and Thor were both direct individuals. "You knew that part--putting a restraining bolt in place. Give others a say. Keep us in--in check."